NOFAS to Highlight Legal Issues Surrounding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

NOFAS will hold a press conference on Thursday, November 17 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to discuss the range of issues concerning Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and the law, featured in two special issues of The Journal of Psychiatry & Law. William J. Edwards, a deputy public defender with the Los Angeles County Public Defenders Office and an authority on FAD legal matters, served as the special editor of the double issue and along with NOFAS will headline the press conference. The Journal is edited by Dr. Eric Y. Drogin, Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, and published by Federal Legal Publications, Inc.

In addition to Edwards, the press conference will feature NOFAS officials, authors published in the Journal, and leading FASD experts. A brief overview of the topics and conclusions published in the two editions of the Journal will be followed by a question and answer session with media, and policy recommendations for addressing FASD in the justice system.

Participating FASD and legal experts include:

• Katharine Boyce, Partner, Patton Boggs LLP; Chair, Board of Directors, NOFAS
• Edward Riley, PhD, Director, Center for Behavioral Teratology San Diego State University
• William J. Edwards, JD, Deputy Public Defender, Los Angeles County Public Defenders Office
• Rich Adler, MD, Forensic and Clinical Psychiatry, Private Practice
• Fred Bookstein, PhD, Scientific Director, Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit, University of Washington
• Stephen Greenspan, PhD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado
• Kathryn Kelly, Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit, University of Washington
• Karen Thiel, PhD, JD, Of Counsel, Patton Boggs LLP
• The Honorable Anthony Wartnik, Retired Trial Judge; Principal, FASD Experts
• George Woods, MD, Morehouse School of Medicine
• Kathy Mitchell, MHS, Vice President, NOFAS
• Karli Schrider, Volunteer, NOFAS

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and the Criminal Justice System
Thursday, November 17, 2011
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
National Press Club
529 14th Street, 13th Floor
4th Estate Room
Washington, D.C.

The event is open to the press and the public. RSVP to Brianna Montgomery.

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.