Center for Law, Brain, & Behavior Launches the CLBB NeuroLaw Library

CLBB | June 10, 2024

On June 10, 2024, the Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior launched the CLBB NeuroLaw Library (clbbneurolawlibrary.com), a one-of-a-kind information resource for people involved in the juvenile and adult criminal justice system. It provides free, open access to accurate and applicable neuroscience in order to bring about fairer, more effective and science-informed judicial outcomes. The NeuroLaw Library can be used across the legal-judicial spectrum—by defense attorneys and prosecutors, judges, probation and parole officers, advocates, and incarcerated persons and their families and friends. 

Woman's Conviction Tossed After 43 Years, Lawyers Say Cop Was Culprit 

HuffPost | June 15, 2024

In 1981, Sandra Hemme was a 20-year-old being treated for mental illness in a psychiatric hospital in Missouri when police began the search for a suspect in a local homicide. After several interrogations, she confessed to this homicide and was sentenced to life in prison. The Innocence Project engaged CLBB Founding Co-Director Judith Edersheim, MD, JD as an expert physician in the case, and she testified that Ms. Hemme was under the influence of active mental and physical illness during her interrogations, which rendered her vulnerable to falsely confess. In June, Ms. Hemme’s conviction was overturned, ending her 43 years of incarceration—thought to be the longest period of wrongful incarceration for a woman in the U.S. 

Family Speaks Out Against Parole for Convicted Killer 

Salem News | April 26, 2024

CLBB Executive Director Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD testified in Natick, MA at a parole board hearing for Jamie Fuller, a convicted murderer who killed fourteen-year-old Amy Carnevale in 1991 when he was 16. At the hearing, Fuller’s attorney, a psychologist, and Dr. Kinscherff testified in favor of parole, which is made possible by a 2013 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that prohibits a sentence of life without parole on juveniles and on defendants aged eighteen, nineteen, or twenty years old at the time of the offense.

Kudos to Kinscherff: Long-time Professor and Forensics Expert Contributes to Landmark Decision by State Supreme Judicial Court

William James College | April 26, 2024

Dr. Kinscherff was honored by William James College for his contributions to a landmark decision Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Last January, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court delivered a decision (Commonwealth v. Mattis) extending the state’s ban on imposing Life Without Possibility of Parole (LWOP) for any crimes committed under age 18 to include persons ages 18 through 20 at the time they committed a crime—including homicide.

The Judge Stephen S. Goss Memorial Award for Leadership

CSG Justice Center | May 3, 2024

CLBB Executive Director Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD, Founding Co-Director Judith Edersheim, JD, MD, and Managing Director and Federal Judge Nancy Gertner (ret.) were the the recipients of the 2024 Judge Stephen S. Goss Collaboration Award. Established in 2021, the award recognizes the critical impact of judges and psychiatrists in improving outcomes for people with behavioral health needs in the criminal justice system, the Judges and Psychiatrists Leadership Initiative (JPLI) established The Judge Stephen S. Goss Memorial Award for Leadership in 2021.  

Decision-Making in Contested Divorce Child Custody Cases

Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Legal Decision-Making | February 2024 

CLBB NeuroLaw Library Director Stephanie Tabashneck PsyD, JD and CLBB Executive Director Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD published a chapter in The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Legal Decision-Making on contested divorce child custody cases. The chapter examines decision-making biases in family law, and uses psychological and legal principles to address areas where more research is needed. 

Stephanie Tabashneck: An "Interpreter" Between Two Fields

Harvard Law Petrie-Flom Center | May 2024 

Dr. Tabashneck had her work featured in a blog post by Harvard Law School's Petrie-Flom Center highlighting her unique role as a bridge between the fields of psychology and law.

"...a highlight of my career has been working at the CLBB, doing the things that I get to do to promote a more fair and just criminal justice system...When I do trainings, and a judge comes up to me afterward and says, 'I'm going to look at these cases differently because of what you taught me today.' That's special to me—being able to use science to impact others."

Do Patients Internalize the Positive Regard They Are Offered? A Dyadic Test of a Rogerian Condition

Psychotherapy Research | May 8, 2024 

CLBB Project Manager Heidi Kmetz and others examined whether therapist-offered positive regard at one therapy session would predict patient-felt positive regard at a subsequent session, which would in turn predict the patient’s next-session outcome. As predicted, when a therapist regarded their patient more than usual following one session, the patient felt more regarded than usual.

Children Betrayed: The Unseen Victims of Domestic Violence and How Law Enforcement Can Better Protect Them

Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice | April 6, 2024 

Domestic violence is a commonplace and serious societal problem with vast public health and economic consequences. Childhood exposure to domestic violence can blight children's biological and social development. In this commentary, CLBB International Fellow in Law and Applied Neuroscience Saul Glick and Kathryn Spearman, registered nurse and PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins discuss the scope and scale of children’s exposure to domestic violence and child maltreatment and discuss international best practices that can serve as models to improve law enforcement’s response to children.

Ophelia Dahl Is on the 2024 TIME100 List 

TIME | April 17, 2024

Ophelia Dahl, Partners In Health, was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2024.

"Ophelia Dahl believes that a person’s lack of access to health care is caused by failures of human-built systems—and because these systems are built by humans, they can be fixed by humans. In the decades since Ophelia co-founded Partners in Health in 1987, the organization has redefined community-based health care, offering a high-quality health care option to millions of impoverished people around the world...Whether it’s working to reduce maternal mortality or treat tuberculosis, Ophelia is profoundly committed to the reduction of human suffering. Her message is clear: injustice has a cure, and, with Ophelia’s help, we are finding it."

Neal Baer, MD, Provides Philanthropic Support to AAAS-Diverse Voices in Science Journalism Internship 

American Association for the Advancement of Science | 2024

Neal Baer, MD, Harvard Medical School, was honored for his continued philanthropic support for the Diverse Voices in Science Journalism Internship. An AAAS Mass Media Fellow alumnus himself, Baer has contributed to this internship program since 2021.

Addressing the Youth Mental Health Epidemic 

Academic Psychiatry | April 17, 2024

Eugene Beresin, MA, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues wrote an article examining the epidemic of psychological disorders among young people. They addressed contributing individual factors, such as family situation, community, and environment, and systemic factors, such as the shortage of youth and adolescent psychiatrists, the health care system, and systemic biases.  

Blunted Stress Reactivity as a Mechanism Linking Early Psychosocial Deprivation to Psychopathy During Adolescence 

Nature Mental Health | April 30, 2024

Margaret A. Sheridan, PhD, University of North Carolina, and colleagues examined the association between early psychosocial deprivation and alterations in stress-response system development and later psychopathology. In a participant pool of 135 youths, they found that early deprivation may shape stress-response system development in a way that confers broad risk for mental health problems during adolescence.

Altered Associations Between White Matter Structure and Psychopathology in Previously Institutionalized Adolescents 

Journal of Social Science Research Network | May 1, 2024

Dr. Sheridan and colleagues investigated the association between white matter structure and psychopathy in previously institutionalized youth. Their findings indicated brain–behavior associations reported in the literature may not be generalizable to all populations. Previously institutionalized youth may develop differential optimal brain development, leading to altered neural correlates of psychopathology that are still apparent in adolescence.

Innocent Californians Have Been Mauled by Police Dogs. Weak Legislation Doesn't Fix Issue 

The Sacramento Bee | May 6, 2024

Altaf Saadi, MD, MSC, Massachusetts General Hospital, and others discussed a recent string of attacks on civilians by police dogs in California. The opinion piece details the impact of such attacks and assesses the effectiveness of two recent proposed Assembly Bills, AB 3241 and AB 2042, intended to address this issue.  

Alisha Moreland-Capuia, MD, Delivers Commencement Address at FSU 

Framingham State University | May 19, 2024

Alisha Moreland-Capuia, MD, McLean Hospital, delivered the commencement address at Framingham State University (FSU) over the graduation weekend of May 17-19. Framingham State conferred 552 bachelor degrees during the ceremony, as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree to Dr. Moreland-Capuia for her years of dedication to reducing human suffering.

Systems Biology Dissection of PTSD and MDD Across Brain Regions, Cell Types, and Blood 

Science | May 24, 2024

In a brain multiregion, multiomic study, Kerry Ressler, MD, PhD, McLean Hospital, and colleagues examined the molecular pathology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Data suggested shared and distinct molecular pathology in both disorders and identified potential therapeutic targets and biomarkers.

Constructive Memory and Conscious Experience 

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience | May 30, 2024

Daniel L. Schacter, PhD, Harvard University, and colleagues summarized recent studies that illustrate the cognitive and neural processes that support conscious experiences linked to the process of episodic recombination, and discussed broader implications for characterizing the basis of conscious experiences associated with constructive memory from a cognitive neuroscience perspective.

National Working Group Releases Landmark Ethical Guidance for New Portable MRI Brain Research 

Journal of Law and The Biosciences | June 2024

To address the ethical, legal, and societal issues raised by highly accessible and portable MRI, an interdisciplinary Working Group engaged in a multi-year structured process of analysis and consensus building, informed by empirical research on the perspectives of experts and the general public. Francis Shen, JD, PhD, Harvard Medical School, and others presented the Working Group's consensus recommendations, addressing technology quality control, design, and oversight of research.