Session Details

Sessions Information

January 4, 2017
1:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Event: 2017 Annual Meeting

Session Type: Section Programs

Session Capacity: 90

Hotel: Hilton San Francisco Union Square

Room: Continental Ballroom 7

Floor: Ballroom Level

Neurolaw first emerged a decade and a half ago. As the discoveries of neuroscience began to enrich cognitive science, many academic disciplines benefited from applying these insights to persistent questions about the nature of human thought and action. Over the past 15 years, legal scholars have joined this activity. The process was accelerated by two significant grants from the MacArthur Foundation which sponsored primary research as well as secondary applications of neuroscience to problems of legal policy and doctrine.

This program will provide the opportunity to review the progress neurolaw has made to date, assessing both its accomplishments and its limitations. The first half of the program will focus on current scholarly and practical work, including reports on basic research, on the application of neuroscience knowledge to doctrinal issues, and on the implementation of neuroscience-informed initiatives in our justice system. The second half will provide a round-table discussion of the progress of the field itself. Has it lived up to the hopes of its proponents? Where has it fallen short? What are the prospects for its future? The session will end with an opportunity for the attendees to join in the discussion.

Business meeting at program conclusion.