The Legal Impact of Adolescent Brain Science: - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The Legal Impact of Adolescent Brain Science: Evidence, Assessments, & Predictions

Terry A. Maroney

Vanderbilt University Law School

American Judges Association

2013 Annual Education Conference

Big Island, HawaiiSlide2

Background: The basics of adolescent brain science; tracing its migration out of the laboratory and into legal theory & practice

Evidence & Assessment:

What kinds of claims are being made on the basis of adolescent brain science, what is happening to them, and why?Predictions: What role is the science likely to play in juvenile justice going forward?

Presentation overviewSlide3

Basics of Adolescent Brain Science

Main argued differences relative to adult brains

Lesser degree of myelination, esp. in frontal cortexNeural exuberance followed by synaptic pruningDifferential recruitment patterns,

e.g

., greater recruitment of amygdala relative to frontal regionsSlide4

MyelinationSlide5

Pruning

Normal development of the prefrontal cortex from age 5

 20

. Red indicates more gray matter, blue less. Gray matter wanes in a back to front wave as the brain matures and neural connections are pruned and higher-order functions developed.

Source: Gogtay, N., et al.,

Dynamic Mapping of Human Cortical Development during Childhood through Early Adulthood

,

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,

101(21):8174-8179, May 25 2004Slide6

Differential recruitment

“In a recent study mapping differences between the brains of adults and teens, Yurgelun-Todd put teenage and adult volunteers through a MRI and monitored how their brains responded to a series of pictures [of fearful faces]. The volunteers were asked to discern the emotion. The results were surprising. All the adults identified the emotion as fear, but many of the teenagers saw something different, such as shock or anger. When she examined their brain scans, Todd found that the teenagers were using a different part of their brain when reading the images.”

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/interviews/todd.html

Teens 

(left)

 used less of the prefrontal (upper) region than adults 

(right)

 when reading emotion.Slide7

Adolescent Brain Science takeaway

Teen brains are structurally and functionally different from those of both children and adults

The correspondence between neuroscience and psychology suggests a neural underpinning for teens’ typical behavioral traitsNormal brain development creates greater capacity for maturity of thought, emotion, and behaviorSlide8

Adolescent Brain Science: Trajectory from laboratory to lawSlide9

Range of post-Roper & Graham

legal claims

SentencingInvalidity of schemes; choice of sentence within range, individual mitigationTransfer to adult courtInvalidity of schemes; individual transfer decisionsCompetence, including ability to waive rightsMiranda, consent searches, waiver of counselMental statesInability to form mens

rea

; how recklessness and negligence should be construed

Adolescent Brain Science:

Trajectory from laboratory to lawSlide10

Evidence & Assessments

Legal impact of ABS claims appears minor

When positively cited by courts, one reason among many, usually in support of a general proposition about youth as a class,buttressing behavioral studies & lay observationFrequently deemed legally irrelevant,foreclosed by doctrine and/or legislative choices,failing to inform individualized assessment, or

duplicative of other evidence as to immaturity

Sometimes rejected on merits,

where in conflict with record evidenceSlide11

Evidence & Assessments

Positively cited by courts in support of general propositions about youth as a class …

Roper, Graham, JDB, & Miller: “three general differences”AL: ABS could be relevant to argument that “developmental immaturity” should be recognized as a basis for sentencing mitigation under state law…but does not appear outcome determinative

NV family court: ABS is one of 5 reasons to invalidate juvenile sex offender registration scheme

WI Supreme Court,

Abrahamson concurrence: ABS is reason 3 of 8 to require parental presence at juvenile interrogationsSlide12

Frequently deemed legally irrelevant because of …

doctrine…

NM: challenge to juvenile’s ability to premeditate & form specific intent to killEven if true, would amount to “diminished capacity” defense, not allowed under state law… and legislative choicesCT: refusal to define “reasonable person” for duress defense by reference to adolescent traits

Legislature had chosen an “objective” standard

MN: science does not override legislative transfer scheme

Evidence & AssessmentsSlide13

Frequently deemed legally irrelevant because of …

failing to inform individualized assessment

CA (Andy Williams):School shooter had MRI taken of brain pre-plea, had never been analyzedNeither MRI nor expert testimony about ABS likely to generate relevant evidence as to Williams’ mental stateIndividual examination & diagnosis by psychiatrist both more relevant and sufficientEvidence & AssessmentsSlide14

Frequently deemed legally irrelevant because of …

adding little to other evidence or to “common sense”

Del.: “typical adults can be counted on to understand that young people make ill-considered and bad judgments,” even if they don’t understand the “physiological underpinnings” for that behaviorWI: court had considered “youth” as a sentencing mitigator, so did not additionally need to consider evidence of brain developmentEvidence & AssessmentsSlide15

Sometimes rejected on merits where in conflict with record evidenceSC (Pittman): ABS cannot show juvenile’s inability to premeditate, plan, deceive, where independent evidence of those actions

Del.: ABS expert testified that juveniles’ brain immaturity manifests in poor planning and foresight; neuropsychological tests showed high levels of planning and foresight

Evidence & AssessmentsSlide16

Juvenile justice will continue to be transformed post-Roper & Graham

, but not primarily because of adolescent brain science

Maximum weight it can bear: in support of general propositions about youth as a groupPointed, scientific, 21st-century way to articulate what is different about youthVery persuasive at high level of generalityone reason among many to recommit to a balanced system of justice for juvenilesDangers of early overemphasis, overreliance

PredictionsSlide17

The False Promise of Adolescent Brain Science in Juvenile Justice

, 85

Notre Dame L. Rev. 89 (2009) Adolescent Brain Science after Graham v. Florida, 86 Notre Dame L. Rev. 765(2011)

The Once and Future Juvenile Brain

, in

Choosing the Future for American Juvenile Justice

(Franklin E.

Zimring

& David S.

Tanenhaus

eds., forthcoming 2014)

In your conference materials

terry.maroney@vanderbilt.edu

http://ssrn.com/author=447138

For more information