Leading experts in the area of FASD and the criminal justice system presented on a range of topics at the 9th International Research Conference on Adolescents and Adults with FASD, held in Seattle, Washington in April, 2024.  The pre-conference featured five panel sessions on “The Verdict is in Your Court: Advancing Justice for Individuals with FASD Across Judicial Systems.”  Video recordings of these five expert panels can be viewed on this page and on FASD United’s YouTube channel. 

Facilitated by Julian Davies, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington, these panels provide a wealth of knowledge on how the issues related to FASD intersect with all aspects of the justice system, from policing and court practices to juvenile and family court.  This is a critically important topic, since we know that people with FASD are significantly over-represented within the criminal justice system.  In addition to going in depth of these issues, an attendee commented that it also provided “a very informative day as an intro to the issues that are on the front line that we all need to be informed on.” 

The first panel showcased a judge’s perspective on “FASD-informed Innovations in Court Practices.”  Four judges spoke about their experiences working with people with FASD in their courtrooms.  Panelist Michael Jeffery is a member of the Alaska Center on FASD, an active participant in the FASD United Affiliate Network, and a retired Alaska Superior Court judge.  Mr. Jeffery spoke about his mission to improve outcomes for people with FASD in the justice system, including by making his own courtroom accommodating to the needs of people with FASD.  Judge Jeffrey said, “I would slow down the proceedings and use plain language rather than legal jargon.”  Justice Todd LaRochelle of the Alberta Court of Justice spoke about the need for more diagnostic assessments for FASD among individuals in the court system, so that FASD can be properly considered as a factor during trials and sentencing. 

The next panel focused on “FASD-informed policing” and featured law enforcement professionals from jurisdictions in Canada and Seattle, Washington speaking on the need for innovative and FASD-informed approaches to criminal justice.  Chris Andrade and Sabrina Hacker described their work with the very first FASD justice program dealing with youth, in Alberta, Canada.  They spoke about the success of diversion programs and in providing FASD training to police and law enforcement agencies.  Ms. Hacker said, “When it comes to FASD, the restorative justice model works really, really well.” 

Malika Lamont and Brandie Flood spoke about FASD-informed alternatives for misdemeanor offenders in Seattle, Washington.  This program has helped to better serve people with FASD in the justice system, while enhancing public safety, through case management that is trauma informed and developed through a racial equity lens. 

The third panel featured a discussion on the importance of effective legal representation for people with FASD as defendants, witnesses, and victims.  Justin Shepherd, an FASD self-advocate, shared the findings from a justice system survey by the ALC Changemakers.  39% of those surveyed had been arrested, with 30% being charged with a crime they did not commit.  “That’s astounding to me,” remarked Mr. Shepherd.  Corey La Berge, a lawyer in Manitoba, Canada, spoke about how he works to make accommodations for clients with FASD, and said that, “FASD can act as a barrier to accessing justice.” 

Juvenile Court was the subject of the fourth panel, featuring FASD United Board Chair Susan Shepard Carlson speaking on best practices for FASD screening and intervention.  A retired Judicial Officer in Minnesota, Ms. Carlson spoke about an FASD screening program that had been funded by the FASD Center for Excellence, with the goal of reducing recidivism and improving outcomes for youth with FASD.  45% of the youth involved in the program screened positive, with 85% of these receiving an FASD diagnosis.  Ms. Carlson expressed the need to restore funding and enhance these screening programs.   

David Junior Gilbert described the ways in which people with FASD are often suggestible during interrogations, saying his study found a “very remarkable level of confabulation (errors in memory without the intention to deceive).”  Mr. Gilbert talked about how the people with FASD he encountered could present as neurotypical, even though their behavior during police interrogations could be linked to the type of frontal lobe brain damage known to result from prenatal alcohol exposure. 

The fifth and last legal panel dealt with FASD in the context of Child Welfare and Family Courts.  Kim Spicer works to improve legal representation of children and youth in Alberta, Canada and talked about the challenges of providing support to youth with FASD as they grow older and their issues become more complicated.  As Ms. Spicer puts it, “When youth become teenagers, our systems see their issues as behavior and not a diagnosis.”  Social work professor Peter W. Choate described the landscape of FASD awareness and remarked that, “There is no absence of decisions being made about youth with FASD.  There is an absence of knowledge to inform these decisions.” 

Each of the five panels featured a true depth of knowledge and firsthand experience, often gleaned over the course of a decades-long career working with people living with FASD.  At the end of each panel, they encouraged conversations and questions directly from the attendees and an attendee commented, “All of the presenters were so knowledgeable. They responded to all of the questions with empathy and candor.” 

Taken as a whole, the pre-conference program on FASD in the judicial system provides an incredible education on this crucially important topic. These expert panels reinforce the urgent need for advocates, policymakers, and criminal justice professionals to take swift and decisive action to improve these systems capacity for meeting the needs of people with FASD.  Such action will lead to dramatically improved outcomes for the FASD community, and by extension, for society as a whole.