Neurodevelopment in Adolescence: Implications for Law and Policy in the post-Miller Era

press release:

Paul Bach-Y-Rita Memorial Lecturer: Robert Kinscherff, Associate Vice President for Community Engagement, Office of the President, and Associate Professor, Doctoral Clinical Psychology Program, William James College

The United States Supreme Court has increasingly relied upon developmental and neurodevelopmental science in distinguishing adolescents from adults in sentencing.  This presentation reviews characteristics of adolescence based in brain development from the onset of puberty into the mid-20’s.  Implications are considered for law (sentencing, resentencing and parole following Miller, 8th Amendment issues of proportionality and conditions of confinement) and policy (age of criminal jurisdiction, supporting healthy development of incarcerated young offenders).