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Therapeutic Jurisprudence Center

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:04:02 +0000

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Posted on 25 September 2009

Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente, center, shares a moment with University of Miami School of Law Dean Patricia D. White, left, and Bruce J. Winick, Silver-Rubenstein Distinguished Professor of Law and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, during the dedication ceremony for the school’s new Therapeutic Jurisprudence Center. Pariente delivered the keynote address at the ceremony, which was held last Thursday at UM’s Lowe Art Museum and attended by several distinguished individuals, including President Donna E. Shalala and Board of Trustees Chair Phillip T. George.

The new center, which is directed by Winick, will study how courts can use therapeutic jurisprudence to help offenders solve the psychosocial problems that often are responsible for their repeated court involvement. The interdisciplinary center will conduct theoretical and empirical research; publish scholarly books, articles, and reports; and train judges and lawyers. It will also conduct community programs and host conferences, symposia, and other educational programs. In addition, the center will participate in existing and future clinical and skills training programs at the law school, helping to train students in the interpersonal skills needed for effective lawyering and counseling.

The Supreme Court’s Evolving Death Penalty Jurisprudence: Severe Mental Illness As The Next Frontier

admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:15:31 +0000

Abstract: The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent death penalty jurisprudence displays the Court’s willingness to invalidate the death penalty for certain offenses or classes of offenders, including those with mental retardation and those who were under eighteen at the time of the offense. The Court has noted that the death penalty in these cases constitutes a disproportionate punishment because it fails to adequately serve the two primary goals f the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause: retribution and deterrence. Because the cognitive and volitioal impairments caused by severe mental illness result in a parallel diminution in culpability and deterrability, severe mental illness is an appropriate next frontier at which to apply the Court’s emerging concept of proportionality. Social attitudes have only recently begun to shift toward opposing the death penalty for those with severe mental illness at the tiem of the offense. Nonetheless, the Court’s recent death penalty cases teach that the Court may independently determine that execution of these offends is a disproportionate punishment if it concludes that executing such offenders does not adequately serve the goals of retribution and deterrence.

Published in the Boston College Law Review, Issue 50:3 (May, 2009

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Mental Health and Juvenile Justice: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Forensic Cases

admin — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:53:11 +0000

Professor Winick will be a speaker on two panels at a symposium titled Mental Health and Juvenile Justice: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Forensic Cases hosted by the University of Miami Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. The first panel, at 1:30 pm is entitled Juvenile Shackling: The Legal and Psychological Perspectives. The other panel Prof Winick will speak on is entitled Juvenile Transfer Hearings: Legal and Therapeutic Jurisprudence Perspectives and is at 2:35.

Event Brochure