In this episode, Elizabeth Kelley talks with her guest, Judge Jay Blitzman. The two discuss the intersection of youthful offenders and mental health issues in the criminal justice system, the shift away from using the term "juvenile", and the ongoing challenges in achieving due process for youthful offenders.

In this episode, they discuss:

• The relevance of including a chapter on youthful offenders in a book about representing people with mental disabilities, and why understanding brain development is crucial for criminal defense lawyers.

• The shift away from using the term "juvenile" due to its pejorative connotations and the preference for terms like "children," "youth," and "young people" to support a more positive and strength-based approach.

• The ongoing challenges in providing adequate due process protections for youthful offenders and the need for a holistic approach to their legal representation.

• The importance of developing trust and effective communication strategies with youthful clients, especially those who have experienced trauma and distrust the legal system.

• Observations on effective advocacy by criminal defense lawyers in youth courts, highlighting the importance of relationship-building, client-directed advocacy, and ensuring that youthful clients feel truly heard and represented.

Hon. Jay D. Blitzman, (retired) served as the First Justice of the Massachusetts Middlesex Juvenile Court. Prior to his judicial appointment he was a public defender who was a co-founder and the first director of the Roxbury Youth Advocacy Project, an interdisciplinary public defender's unit which was the template for the creation of the statewide Massachusetts Youth Advocacy Division. He was also a co-founder of Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CfJJ). Since his judicial retirement, he has consulted for the Sixth Amendment Center (6AC) and served as the interim Executive Director of Massachusetts Advocates for Children and serves MAC as an Emeritus Policy Advisor. Jay consults on juvenile, criminal and child welfare issues, mentors attorneys, and holds teaching positions at Harvard Law School (Trial Advocacy), Northeastern Law School (Juvenile Law) and Boston College Law (The Cradle to Prison Pipeline). Jay is also on the faculty at the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior focusing on late teen and emerging adult issues (CLBB- M.G.H. & Harvard Medical School. He also was an affiliate of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. Jay writes and presents frequently on a wide array of issues related to advancing equity and deconstructing the cradle to prison pipeline. Recent articles include, Cheating The Evidence To Get To Best Interest (Family Court Review, Hofstra Law 2024), Let The Sunshine In (ABA Criminal Justice 2024), Let's Follow The Science on Late Adolescence" (ABA Criminal Justice 2022), The State of Juvenile Justice 2018-2024 (ABA Criminal Justice), Shutting Down The School to Prison Pipeline (ABA Human Rights 2021, Open The Doors (Mass. L. Rev. 2021), Justice for Some: A Tale of Two Americas (Civic Right Institute Juvenile Justice Update 2020), and Deconstructing The School to Prison Pipeline (BBA Journal 2018).

Jay serves on the boards of directors of Discovering Justice, Massachusetts Mental Health Advisory Committee, and is a member of the advisory boards of Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CfJJ) ,UTEC, and Northeastern Law School's Cradle to Prison and Salus Populi (Social Determinants of Public Health). Jay is also a Massachusetts Advocates for Justice Fellow working with More Than Words (MTW). On November 2, 2024 Jay received the Massachusetts Psychological Association's Humanitarian of the Year Award. In 2023 Jay was the first recipient of CfJJ's Youth Juvenile Justice Icon award and was the 2019 ABA Livingston Hall Juvenile Justice Award. Other recognition includes being the first person to receive the MBA Juvenile & Child Welfare Section Award, the 2023 Boston College Law School Holland Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lowell 100 award, the Judge Paul Chernoff Servants of Justice Award and the Rebecca Pries Adolescent Consultation Services Indispensable Friend Award. Massachusetts' public defender system annually presents annually the Jay Blitzman Award for Youth Advocacy.

In this episode, Elizabeth Kelley talks with her guest, Dr. Carol Weiss. The two discuss the terminology of substance use disorders, the co-occurrence with mental health issues, and the effects on decision-making within the criminal justice system.

In this episode, they discuss:

• The distinction between substance use disorder and substance abuse disorder, and the implications of stigmatizing terms.

• The high co-occurrence rate of substance use disorder with other mental health disorders, and theories explaining this correlation.

• Effective treatment modalities for substance use disorder, including the importance of agonist therapies.

• The role of criminal defense lawyers in presenting substance use disorder as a mitigating factor in court.

• The stigma surrounding medication-assisted treatments and the misconceptions held by the criminal justice system.

• Important qualities for criminal defense lawyers to look for when retaining an addiction expert.

• The long-term effects of substance abuse on brain health and cognitive functions.

Dr. Carol J. Weiss MD is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She is Board Certified in General Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine.

She has served in a forensic capacity as an expert witness, substance use evaluator, or neutral monitor, primarily in matrimonial matters, for over 30 years.

She is the Associate Medical Director of the Weill Cornell Center for Trauma and Addiction. She has worked both in private practice and with underserved populations such as people with HIV/AIDS, adolescents with addiction, and veterans.

She is the author of "Protocol Design and Implementation for Monitoring Parental Substance Use in Child Custody Litigation" in Family Court Review (July 2021) and " Representing People with Substance Use Disorders", in "Representing People with Mental Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defence Lawyers", 2nd Edition, Elizabeth Kelley (ed), American Bar Association, (July 2024).

In this episode, Elizabeth Kelley talks with her guest, Zach Segal. The two discuss post-conviction remedies, specifically 2254 and 2255 motions and motions for Compassionate Release, as well as the challenges people with mental disabilities face in filing these motions.

In this episode, they discuss:

• What is a post-conviction remedy

• When a 2254 or 2255 motion might be filed

• What challenges people with mental disabilities face in filing these motions

• In what circumstances a 2254 or 2255 provides relief for ineffective assistance of counsel claims

• How the Supreme Court's decision in Dusky may apply to 2254 or 2255 motions

• What is federal compassionate release

• Is failure of the Bureau of Prisons to provide adequate medical treatment grounds for filing a motion for compassionate release

• What is the US Sentencing Commission

Zachary Segal, is a graduate of Touro Law Center, where he was a member of the Touro Law Review, publishing two articles discussing the Sixth Amendment's Right to Effective Assistance of Counsel for non-citizens and the disparate treatment of cryptocurrencies. He also interned with the Federal Defenders of New York in the Eastern District, Brooklyn Defender Services, the Honorable Joseph F. Bianco (then-United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, now Circuit Judge, Second Circuit), and the Honorable Associate Justice Robert J. Miller (Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department).

Born in Montreal, Zach attended the University of Ottawa where he double-majored in political science in history. After graduating, he worked at the Aleph Institute, a nationally recognized prisoner's right organization, where he advocated for the religious rights of inmates. Zach speaks French and is conversational in Spanish and Hebrew.

Since working at L&K, Zach has been involved in all stages of a criminal case, ranging from preliminary investigations through post-conviction relief. He has argued motions before federal and state courts, as well as appeals before the state appellate courts. Of particular note, in his 5 years practicing, Zach's advocacy has resulted in post-conviction reductions in sentence for 11 people, of approximately 65 years and one life sentence.