Defense attorneys working in juvenile courts scrutinize evidence, cross-examine police and advocate for specialized services for their young clients. But with heavy caseloads and little time to prepare for hearings, it can be difficult to build a case around the fundamentals of adolescent brain science and development and youth crime. Topics like neuroplasticity, synaptic pruning, or hot cognition can soar right past most judges’ heads.

A new publicly available resource on adolescent brain science aims to assist these attorneys, as well as prosecutors, bench officers, probation and parole officers, advocates, incarcerated people, and their relatives. The NeuroLaw Library is a free, open-access repository designed to translate adolescent brain science for actionable use in courts.

The goal is to standardize the notion that young people require and deserve different treatment than adults.

Juvenile Justice Does Not Account for Adolescent Brain Science

“The courts are still lagging far behind the science,” said library director Stephanie Tabashneck. “The vision is to really leverage neuroscience in the pursuit of a more fair justice system instead of continuing to label kids as somehow dangerous.”

Billed as the nation’s first resource dedicated to expanding the footprint of neuroscience in the criminal justice system, the NeuroLaw Library is a project of the Harvard-based Center for Law, Brain & Behavior and Massachusetts General Hospital. Its tagline reads “convert reading into action.”

The library’s website features relevant open-source journal articles and cutting-edge research; sample motions; a sentencing memorandum; amicus briefs and affidavits. Resources also include toolkits, educational videos, a glossary of legal and scientific terms and neuroscience knowledge that is digestible to the lay public, in part through reliance on AI. Summaries of dense neuroscience research findings can be adjusted to a sixth-grade reading level, Tabashneck said, with expert oversight that ensures accuracy.

Among the extensive archives is a sample expert witness statement penned by forensic psychologist Christen Carson that lays out several key findings for youth regarding adolescent brain science. It focuses on their underdeveloped moral reasoning, an inability to correctly weigh risks, and impulsive decision-making.

Read the full article about adolescent brain science by Jeremy Loudenback at The Imprint.