Petrie-Flom | From Troubled Teens to Tsarnaev: Adolescent Neuroscience and Law

The neuroscience of adolescent brain development has had increasing impact on American jurisprudence. On Sept. 28, The Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience presented a panel examining the implications of neuroscience for law in areas including death penalty mitigation for young adults over 18, as in the Tsarnaev case; trial of youth as adults; and more. The panel also discussed implications for constitutional jurisprudence, legal and policy reform, and trial practice. The Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience is a collaboration between The Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics.

Panelists:
Judith G. Edersheim, JD, MD, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital; Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School; and attending Psychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital

Judge Nancy Gertner (ret.), Senior Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School; Faculty, Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital

Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD, Senior Fellow in Law and Applied Neuroscience in the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience, a collaboration between the Petrie-Flom Center and the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital; Faculty in the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at MGH; Faculty in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology and Associate Vice President for Community Engagement at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology; and Senior Associate at the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice

Leah Somerville, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; Faculty, Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital

Moderator: I. Glenn Cohen, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, and Faculty Director, Petrie-Flom Center