NOFAS Press Conference: “FASD and the Criminal Justice System”

Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender Billy Edwards headlined a recent NOFAS press conference highlighting the many facets of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and the criminal justice system, and how the topic came to be featured this year in a double volume of theJournal of Psychiatry and the Law.

Watch the full press conference.

Watch video of individual speakers

William J. Edwards, JD, Deputy Public Defender, Los Angeles County Public Defenders Office
Edward Riley, PhD, Director, Center for Behavioral Teratology San Diego State University
Stephen Greenspan, PhD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado
George Woods, MD, Morehouse School of Medicine
Fred Bookstein, PhD, Scientific Director, Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit, University of Washington
Karen Thiel, PhD, JD, Of Counsel, Patton Boggs LLP
Richard Adler, MD, Forensic and Clinical Psychiatry, Private Practice
Katharine Boyce, Partner, Patton Boggs LLP; Chair, Board of Directors, NOFAS

Kathryn Kelly, Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit, University of Washington
The Honorable Anthony Wartnik, Retired Trial Judge; Principal, FASD Experts

After an opening depiction of FASD by Ed Riley, PhD, Director of the Center for Behavioral Teratology at San Diego State University, Edwards, also a member of the journal’s editorial board, summarized the issues covered in the peer-reviewed papers, including the competency of a defendant with FASD to stand trial or waive their rights, mitigation, confessions, mens rea (the criminal intent or the knowledge by the defendant that the act is wrong), sentencing, placement and services, the death penalty and the victimization of individuals with FASD.

In describing the purpose of the focus on FASD, Edwards said both the public’s perception and policies need to be changed to recognize the significance of FASD and account for individuals with the condition that encounter the juvenile and criminal justice systems. He added that, “FASD is not an excuse to a defense, but rather a valid issue in [criminal] representation.” As a possible outcome of the journal articles, he said he wished the spotlight on the issue would help, “Change the way courts look at FASD and perhaps lead to an exclusion from the death penalty for persons with FASD.”

Several other experts who authored papers in the journal who also spoke at the press conference included, Rich Adler, PhD, a forensic and clinical psychiatrist in private practice, Fred Bookstein, PhD, Professor of Morphometrics at the University of Vienna and a Professor of Statistics at the University of Washington, Stephen Greenspan, PhD, clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado, Kay Kelly, Project Director of the FASD Legal Issues Resource Center at the University of Washington, Karen Thiel, PhD, at Patton Boggs LLP in Washington, D.C., the Honorable Anthony Wartnik, George Woods, MD, of the Morehouse School of Medicine, and NOFAS Vice President Kathy Mitchell and her daughter Karli. NOFAS President Tom Donaldson presided over the press conference.

A copy of the Winter 2010 and Spring 2011 editions of the Journal of Psychiatry and Lawfeaturing FASD, or selected articles, may be obtained from Federal Legal Publications

PRESS CONFERENCE PROGRAM

FASD is an umbrella term describing the range of effects that can occur in an individual whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. These effects may include physical, mental, behavioral, and/or learning disabilities with possible lifelong implications. FASD is recognized as the leading preventable cause of developmental disabilities and birth defects, affecting as many as 40,000 newborns each year in the United States. Alcohol is a neurotoxin with the capacity to interfere with human development at any time during gestation. Since 1981, the U.S. Surgeon General as advised that there is no known safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy and, that due to the risk of birth defects, women who are pregnant or are considering pregnancy should abstain from alcohol.

NOFAS is a non-profit public health advocacy organization striving to prevent FASD and support individuals and families living with the condition. NOFAS is the only national organization focused solely on FASD.