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Legislative Testimony on Second Chance Act
The Sentencing Project | March 19th, 2024
CLBB Executive Director Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD in collaboration with The Sentencing Project and local supporters, provided testimony on March 19 before the Michigan legislature on the proposed Second Chance Act. The legislation would afford persons serving lengthy sentences for crimes committed as juveniles or emerging young adults an opportunity to petition the court for review of their sentence after they have served a minimum of ten years. If approved by their sentencing judge, they would be eligible for review by the Michigan Parole Board. Dr. Kinscherff described the neuroscience and related behavioral science indicating that the Second Chance Act would support rehabilitation and reduce recidivism, while substantially reducing incarceration costs and increasing community safety.
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Mass. Ruling Seen as 'Sea Change' in Young Adult Sentencing
Law360 | February 23, 2024
CLBB Executive Director Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD and Affiliated Faculty Judge Jay Blitzman (ret.) discuss the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court holding that life sentences without parole for crimes committed during ages 18-20 are unconstitutional under the MA constitution.. The rule in Commonwealth v. Mattis is the first case in the nation to unambiguously declare that no one under age 21 at the time of their crime will serve life without the possibility of parole. The ruling will be applied retroactively as well. Kinscherff discusses the effect of “hot cognition” that predisposes older adolescents to act impulsively and without full regard for consequences when making decisions while highly emotionally aroused.
“This ruling is exceedingly important…Obviously, in Massachusetts, where you have about 200 incarcerated individuals who now have the opportunity to have a parole hearing at least at some point in their life. But it is also incredibly significant in terms of the national landscape." - Judge Jay Blitzman
“However, while these experiences pose developmental challenges, they do not dictate fate, as late adolescents are also remarkably resilient, and their developing brains are poised for positive learning through interventions and rehabilitation” - Dr. Robert Kinscherff
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CLBB Files Amicus Brief in Rhode Island Providing Youth and Late Adolescents a Second Chance
Supreme Court of Rhode Island | March 2024
In this Brief, CLBB Executive Director Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD and CLBB NeuroLaw Library Director Stephanie Tabashneck PsyD, JD addressed the science of brain development and behavior which shows meaningful, relevant changes throughout late adolescence. Brain imaging and other developments in neuroscience have made visible the differences between the developing brain, triggering a paradigm shift in the way the behavior of emerging adults is understood in the scientific community. Well-established, peer-reviewed research, as well as their collective professional experience, demonstrate that it is scientifically impossible to reliably predict the future dangerousness of an offender who commits a crime while under the age of 21.
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Treat Addiction with Psychedelics?
The Harvard Gazette | March 22, 2024
CLBB NeuroLaw Library Director Stephanie Tabashneck PsyD, JD moderated a panel “New Ideas for Substance Use Condition Treatment: Could Psychedelics Help?” on March 19, 2024. Panelist Mark Guckel shared his story of addiction and recovery and warned that the use of psychedelics is just one of the many other treatments for substance-use disorders. Tabashneck offered a word of caution about psychedelics and how these should not be used as replacements for medication treatments. Despite the promise of success stories from patients in recovery, the panel cautioned that research is lacking on benefits versus risks.
“We have a treatment shortage. We also know that a lot of the treatments that we have are not particularly effective…Psychedelic therapy is not a replacement for medication treatments, like methadone for opioid-use disorder. All of our panelists will also agree that these are not first-line treatments. If someone has a substance-use disorder and it’s early, no one is recommending or suggesting that you should go ahead and try the psychedelics first as a method of treatment.”
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A Wave of States Reduce “Death by Incarceration” for Young Adults
Bolts | February 2, 2024
This article discusses how Massachusetts banned sentences of life without parole for “emerging adults” under the age of 21. CLBB NeuroLaw Library Director Stephanie Tabashneck, PsyD, JD provides insight that young adults cannot regulate their emotions as well as older adults because their frontal lobes are not fully developed. She is not surprised by the series of states revisiting who counts as young in the law. Tabashneck often gives presentations to judges and attorneys using images from brain scans that highlight the differences between younger and older adults.
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How Neuroscience and Emerging Technologies Will (Or Will Not) Transform Policy, Law, and Professional Practice
HIPA | February 24, 2024
On February 24, 2024, CLBB Executive Director Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD (second from left) presented a day-long workshop for the Hawaii Island Psychological Association (HIPA) in Waimea, HI. Titled How Neuroscience and Emerging Technologies Will (Or Will Not) Transform Policy, Law and Professional Practice, it was presented in person to local medical, behavioral health, child protection, and other professionals and joined virtually by participants from other Hawaiian Islands and from far away as Arkansas and Delaware.
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Commonwealth v. Mattis: A Win for Emerging Adults and Neuroscience
Prisoner's Legal Aid Project | February 28, 2024
CLBB Executive Director Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD participated on February 28, 2024 in a panel presentation and discussion of the landmark Commonwealth v. Mattis decision released by the MA Supreme Judicial Court in January 2024. Dr. Kinscherff had been an expert witness in the case in which the SJC ultimately held that the MA state constitution bars imposition of Life Without Possibility of Parole for persons whose crimes were committed between ages 18-20 (inclusive). The panel was sponsored by the Prisoner’s Legal Aid Project, held at Harvard Law School, and included attorneys who litigated the case (Ruth Greenberg, Esq. Ryan Schiff, Esq.) and a formally incarcerated youthful offender and current Tufts University student (Mr. Kentel Weaver).
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35th Annual Meeting of the GRAL on Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Groupe de Recherche sur la maladie d’Alzheimer | January 2024
CLBB Founding Co-Director Bruce H. Price, MD delivered the keynote address at the 35th annual meeting of Groupe de Recherche sur la maladie d’Alzheimer, based in Marseille, France, co-sponsored by the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Titled ”Behavioral neurology, neuropsychiatry and beyond: Where do we go from here?”, Price emphasized the importance of CLBB using actionable neuroscience to change the law and legal policy. He was invited to join the group’s scientific committee.
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Commentary: Juvenile Sentencing Bill Is About Politics, Not Reducing Crime
The Baltimore Banner | March 5, 2024
CLBB Managing Director and Federal Judge Nancy Gertner (ret.) and CLBB Advisory Board member Federal Judge Andre Davis (ret.) commented on the Juvenile Sentencing bill in Maryland that the legislation is about politics rather than about reducing crime. They argue that when crime goes up, moral panic ensues, and politicians rush to institute tough-on-crime measures, which push more adolescents into the adult criminal justice system. However, the politics of crimes has no basis in scientific evidence.
“Arresting more 10-, 11-, and 12-year-olds not accused of violent crime will not improve public safety in Maryland; neither will doubling terms of probation for 80% of kids. All that will happen is that more children in the state will be detained, especially black and brown children, who will eventually be released, impaired by their experience”
“None of these new proposals is based on evidence. They are symbolic, even performative, and reflect media manipulation rather than the real world of declining crime. But even worse, they are dangerous and at odds with the scientific consensus about adolescent neurodevelopment. They risk doing more harm than good.”
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UNCORNERED
UNCORNERED & CLBB | November 28, 2023
On November 28, 2023, CLBB Executive Director Dr. Robert Kinscherff visited UNCORNERED with Bernard Franklin, PhD, Program Manager. Recognizing that fewer than 1% of a city’s residents are connected up to 77% of gun violence, UNCORNERED has implemented a “proven, data-based model to analyze violence street by street and corner by corner to transform a city’s most violent, disruptive, and neglected residents, who we call Core Influencers, into agents of change who lead their cities to peace." UNCORNERED’s demonstrated success in reducing gun violence through positive engagement and concrete supports for those most likely to be perpetrators and victims of gun violence has prompted expansion to Providence, RI and Kansas City, MO & KS.
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Queens College Pays Tribute To Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Honors Jennifer Jones Austin For Outstanding Contributions To Change
Carribean Life | January 16, 2024
Jennifer Jones Austin, JD, CEO of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, was honored for her remarkable contributions as a distinguished advocate for social change at the Queens College Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“As a daughter of the civil rights movement, I am a beneficiary of all the good that resulted from the hard work, the sweat, tears, and bloodshed by the leaders and doers of that movement, and as a daughter and beneficiary I am now the burden-bearer of this generations civil rights movement.”
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Semantic Clustering during Verbal Episodic Memory Encoding and Retrieval in Older Adults: One Cognitive Mechanism of Superaging
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute | January 4, 2024
Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, Northeastern University, Brad Dickerson, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues investigated spontaneous production and use of semantic clustering in older adults who completed a list learning paradigm. Sematic clustering is a strategy for improving performance on episodic recall tasks. They found that older adults who maintained a youthful level of delayed free recall (super-ager) produced and used more semantic clustering than other older individuals with normal memory level for their age. This suggests a mechanism in which super-agers maintain youthful memory function and a possible strategy for older adults to train to promote better memory.
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Unleashed Brutality: An Expert Medical Opinion on the Health Harms from California Police Attack Dogs
Physicians for Human Rights | January 10, 2024
Altaf Saadi, MD, MSC, Massachusetts General Hospital, and other physicians with Physicians for Human Rights helped draft a report on the 30 cases in California involving police canine bites. In the reviewed cases, the police canines were deployed for minor crimes and resulted in health harms varying from immediate to long term. In the LA Times Exclusive, Saadi shared that the bites can have lifelong ramifications: when the dogs fail to release when the officer commands, the officers have to physically remove them, creating even deeper wounds, PTSD, and outrageous medical costs.
“These injuries then spill into other aspects of people’s lives, from affecting their ability to maintain employment to having to be on permanent disability.”
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Smaller Total and Subregional Cerebellar Volumes In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Mega-Analysis By The Enigma-PGC PTSD Workgroup
Molecular Psychiatry | January 10, 2024
Justin T. Baker, MD, PhD, McLean Hospital, and colleages from the ENIGMA-PGC PTSD working group employed a new deep-learning approach to investigate the subregional cerebellar volumes in PTSD. The cerebellum plays an important role in higher-order cognitive and emotional processses. They found that individuals with PTSD compared to controls had smaller total cerebellum and subregional volumes. This emphasizes that there are regionally specific cerebellar differences in the pathophysiology of PTSD.
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Cognitive Stimulation as Mechanism Linking Socioeconomic Status and Neural Function Supporting Working Memory: A Longitudinal fMRI Study
Cerebral Cortex | February 2024
Margaret Sheridan, PhD, University of North Carolina, and colleagues investigated the experiences of cognitive deprivation as a mechanism through which family income contributes to alterations in neural activation during working memory. They found that chronicity of low income in early childhood and current income-to-needs were all associated with task-related activation in the ventral visual stream and frontoparietal network. Family income and cognitive deprivation were not significantly associated with working memory performance, whereas cognitive deprivation was associated with academic achievement.
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Sensory Alterations in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Current Opinion in Neurobiology | February 2024
Kerry Ressler, MD, PhD, McLean Hospital, and colleagues in this review summarized the recent findings on the importance of sensory processing in PTSD. They discussed the link between PTSD and different behavioral aspects of sensory processing. They also discussed the findings that link PTSD to variability in gray and white matter structure in sensory brain regions. They argued that sensory variability may represent susceptibility to or consequences of PTSD.
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Psychopathy Scores Predict Recidivism in High-risk Youth: A Five-year Follow-up Study
Springer Link | February 26, 2024
Gina Vincent, PhD, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, and colleagues evaluated the utility of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) for predicting general and violent felony recidivism in a large sample of predominately Hispanic/Latino male adolescents. Psychopathic traits have been associated with rearrest in adolescents. Hispanic/Latino adolescents are a group that face disproportionate risk of being detained in the U.S. With the five-year follow-up period, the results of this study indicated that higher PCL:YV scores and lower full-scale estimated IQ scores were significantly associated with a shorter time to felony and violent felony rearrest. The results suggest that this measure of psychopathic traits and IQ are reliable predictors of subsequent felony and violent felony rearrest among high-risk male adolescents.
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Creative Evaluation: The Role of Memory in Novelty & Effectiveness Judgements
Creativity Research Journal | March 5, 2024
Daniel L. Schacter, PhD, Harvard University, and colleagues explored how episodic retrieval supports the evaluation of novelty and effectiveness in creativity. They observed a negative correlation between novelty and effectiveness ratings. When evaluating familiar, effective ideas, people refer more to the past, whereas when evaluating highly novel, less effective ideas, people refer more to the future. The results indicate that episodic retrieval supports the evaluation of creative ideas.
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Association Between Number of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Depression Among Older Adults Is Moderated by Race
Preventive Medicine | April 2024
Olivia Okereke, MD, MS, Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues aimed to investigate the association between the number of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and the history of depression among older adults (>60 years old), as well as to explore this interaction by race. The association between number of ACEs and depression was strongest for older adults who identify as Hispanic, but weaker and less consistent for adults who identify as White and Black.
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Neuroscience and Cannabis: Implications for Law and Policy
CLBB & Petrie-Flom Center | April 18, 2024 12:30 PM EST
Register for this event here!
The legalization of cannabis has raised significant questions for law and public policy. In her annual lecture, neuroscientist Dr. Yasmin Hurd will explore the science of cannabis, CBD, and the future of substance use disorder treatment. Dr. Stephanie Tabashneck will moderate a discussion and audience Q&A about the implications for law and policy.
Panelists:
Yasmin Hurd, PhD, Ward-Coleman Chair, Translational Neuroscience, Professor Psychiatry and Neuroscience; Director, Addiction Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital
Stephanie Tabashneck, PsyD, JD, Senior Fellow of Law and Applied Neuroscience, Petrie-Flom Center and Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Director, CLBB NeuroLaw Library
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Judicial Courage and Decision-Making
Flaschner Judicial Institute | May 17, 2024
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST
Lunch available at 12:30 PM
John Joseph Moakley Courthouse
One Courthouse Way, Jury Assembly Room
Boston, MA 02114
United States District Judge Patti B. Saris and Northeastern University Law Professor Deborah A. Ramirez, JD will lead this half-day, in-person, educational program on an important topic - Judicial Courage and Decision-Making. The panelists include extraordinarily talented, experienced, and fearless jurists, who will discuss various examples of judicial courage. This program has something for every judge in every court.
Retired United States District Judge Nancy Gertner and special out-of-state guest speaker, United States District Judge Carlton W. Reeves, Southern District of Mississippi, will share their personal reflections on the decision-making process for important decisions in their careers. Retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court Margaret Marshall, Appeals Court Justice Sydney Hanlon, and Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins will address their brave decisions in the pursuit of justice.
A lively panel discussion will follow, featuring all panelists, active and retired, trial and appellate judges from the state and federal judiciaries sharing personal perspectives and examples from their years of experience. There will be time allotted for Q&A throughout the program.
Register here
Advance registration is required. Lunch will be provided. Questions? Please feel free to contact programs@flaschner.org.
Moderators:
United States District Judge Patti B. Saris (District of Massachusetts)
Northeastern University Law Professor Deborah A. Ramirez, JD
Panelists:
United States District Judge Carlton W. Reeves (Southern District of Mississippi)
Retired United States District Judge Nancy Gertner (District of Massachusetts)
Retired Chief Justice of Supreme Judicial Court Margaret H. Marshall
Retired Appeals Court Judge Sydney Hanlon
Retired Superior Court Judge Douglas H. Wilkins
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New Ideas for Substance Use Condition Treatment: Could Psychedelics Help?
CLBB & Petrie-Flom Center | March 19, 2024 12:30 PM EST
This event provided an overview of psychedelic treatments, including ibogaine and psilocybin, for substance use conditions. During this panel discussion, an ibogaine researcher, a certified recovery coach with lived experience, and a drug law expert discussed existing research, potential benefits and risks, ongoing policy and legal reforms, and societal implications.
Panelists:
Moderator: Stephanie Tabashneck, PsyD, JD, Senior Fellow of Law and Applied Neuroscience, Petrie-Flom Center and Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Director, CLBB NeuroLaw Library
Deborah Mash, PhD, Professor of Neurology and Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine; Director, Brain Endowment Bank at the University of Miami; and Chief Executive Officer and Founder, DemeRx
Mark Guckel, RCPF, CCAR Recovery Coach Professional, EntheoRecovery Solutions, LLC
Mason Marks, MD, JD, Visiting Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Senior Fellow and Project Lead of the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at the Petrie-Flom Center; and Florida Bar Health Law Section Professor, Florida State University College of Law
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