Amicus brief in support of admitting expert testimony on the science of false memories in a child sexual abuse prosecution
Pgs. 7-8 – summarize scientific research describing how people create entirely false memories, a study of false memory creation, and a list of false memory risk factors, particularly for children. Pgs. 9-10 – explain how interview techniques can create false memories in children, even false memories that do not seem to directly relate to the […]
Marijuana Smell Alone Should Not Justify A Search
Based on six years of data of police stops in Philadelphia based on the smell of marijuana, this brief overviews how its use as a justification for a search has vastly increased the number of searches conducted, but less than 20% of the searches relying on the presence of marijuana actually discovered contraband. The brief […]
Amicus Brief – Hair Microscopy Comparison Evidence is Unreliable
Filed by the Innocence Project, this brief details research demonstrating that hair microscopy evidence does not meet the standards of reliable scientific evidence, as well as research showing how persuasive forensic testimony is to juries.
Amicus brief arguing mandatory life without parole sentencing regimes violate the Eighth Amendment when applied to persons with intellectual disabilities (ID)
This amicus brief argues that mandatory sentencing regimes prevent individualized sentencing that accounts for the unique vulnerabilities of people with ID (pp. 4–9, 13-16, 20–25). Drawing on Atkins, Roper, Graham, and Miller, the brief explains that ID, like youth, significantly reduces culpability and weakens the traditional sentencing justifications of retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation (pp. 16-20). Modern science disproves the stereotype that people […]
Brief – Verdict Form Should List “Not Guilty” First
p. 19-26 incorporate social science research on primacy and impact of the first-listed choice over the second-listed choice.