BREAKING NEWS: Charles Smith Blog Award awarded to filmmakers Susan Goldsmith and Meryl Goldsmith - creators of "The Syndrome for having the courage, through their ground-breaking documentary, "The Syndrome," to unequivocally portray 'shaken baby syndrome' as what it is - baseless medical dogma disguised as science - and for exposing the vicious efforts of some doctors, prosecutors and other proponents of shaken baby syndrome to silence their critics. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
PUBLISHER'S VIEW: I was horrified, but not overly surprised, to read in Lauren Kirchner's powerful Pacific Standard article that filmmakers Susan and Meryl Goldsmith have faced harassment and ugly accusations for producing a documentary aimed at exposing a tenuous, disproved medical theory, since renounced by its creator, that has has resulted in the wrongful prosecution and conviction of a vast number of persons - and the seizure of by child welfare authorities of children from loving parents. If filmmakers are exposed to such a backlash, one can only imagine, how much pressure has been placed on the growing number of doctors who have dared to stand up in court and challenge the lack of scientific basis of a theory fiercely propounded by a medical establishment which has abdicated the scientific method, violated the precept that physicians should do no harm (such as sending innocent people to jail), and has refused to examine the points raised by their critics with an open mind. I have presented the Charles Smith Award to these filmmakers for putting the spotlight on shaken baby syndrome, exposing the harm that blind application of the theory has caused - and for having the courage to stand up to the vicious critics who are attempting to shut them up.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
STORY: "A new film challenges shaken baby syndrome, and courts controversy," by Lauren Kirchner, published by Pacific Standard on March 5, 2015; Lauren Kirchner is the Web editor of The Baffler. She has written for the Columbia Journalism Review, Capital New York, Slate, The Awl, The Hairpin, and many others. Pacific Standard, formerly Miller-McCune, is an American magazine, published bimonthly in print and continuously online by the nonprofit Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media and Public Policy, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.
SUB-HEADING: "Meryl and Susan Goldsmith’s documentary, The Syndrome, has been boycotted and protested against for its portrayal of SBS as outdated science."
GIST: "When cousins Susan Goldsmith, an investigative journalist, and Meryl Goldsmith, a filmmaker, teamed up to make a film challenging Shaken Baby Syndrome, they knew it would be a hard sell. The film profiles a loose coalition of doctors and legal experts who say they have gradually come to see SBS (now typically referred to with the updated, broader term Abusive Head Trauma) as an outdated, and often false, medical diagnosis. Many of the film’s subjects have dedicated their professional lives to gaining attention to updated research on child injuries, and to defending accused abusers in court. For this, they have faced a huge backlash from the doctors and prosecutors who disagree. The filmmakers knew they’d get swept up in that, too. Many film festivals that considered including the film were threatened with litigation, and accused of promoting child abuse, the filmmakers said in a recent interview. “This is a theme in our film—how the proponents of shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma have tried to silence their critics,” Susan Goldsmith says. “And that theme is extending to here and now, to our documentary. I was expecting it.”.........Those SBS proponents—many of whom are very prominent figures in the medical field, and who hold positions in the American Academy of Pediatrics—did not participate in the film, but when it was about to come out, they were ready. Ahead of the first public showing of The Syndrome last fall at the Kansas International Film Festival, the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome sent a strongly worded letter to the festival organizers. The letter called the film “dangerous” and urged them to remove it from the festival. (The film screened as planned.) “We are concerned that the film contains inaccurate and misleading information about SBS/AHT that may result in serious public health risks,” the letter read. “Should viewers leave with the impression that shaking an infant does not cause serious harm that could result in death, numerous infants could be put in significant danger.” A large group of pediatricians and neurosurgeons sent another letter to the organizers, saying that the film’s argument was that shaking a child could not cause death or injury. It’s worth noting that these letter-writers had not yet seen the film, which does not, in fact, condone baby-shaking, or excuse actual child abuse. But what the film does is show how thin the evidence often is, and has traditionally been, in cases like this—and just how many people are in jail today because of it......... So why haven’t medical diagnoses kept up with the science? One pediatrician in the film—who used to follow the party line on shaken baby diagnoses until he did his own research—blames an entrenched system that doesn’t want to revisit or revise the received wisdom. He and other doctors in the film say they have been retaliated against and bullied with legal threats by the NCSBS and other organizations after testifying in defense of accused abusers. “We thought we were helping by uncovering these other medical conditions that can look like abuse, but are not [abuse],” Patrick Barnes, chief of pediatric neuroradiology at the Children's Hospital at Stanford University, tells the filmmakers. “It actually threatens the entire shaken baby syndrome working group and industrial complex.”
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.psmag.com/books-and-culture/a-new-film-challenges-shaken-baby-syndrome-and-courts-controversy
See the informative website for "The Syndrome." Audrey Edmunds, mother of three, spent 11 years in prison for killing a baby she never harmed. And she is not alone. What happens when widely held beliefs based on junk science lead to the convictions of innocent people? The Syndrome is an explosive documentary following the crusade of a group of doctors, scientists, and legal scholars who have uncovered that “Shaken Baby Syndrome,” a child abuse theory responsible for hundreds of prosecutions each year in the US, is not scientifically valid. In fact, they say, it does not even exist. Filmmaker Meryl Goldsmith teams with Award-winning investigative reporter Susan Goldsmith to document the unimaginable nightmare for those accused and shine a light on the men and women dedicating their lives to defending the prosecuted and freeing the convicted. The Syndrome uncovers the origins of the myth of “Shaken Baby Syndrome.” It unflinchingly identifies those who have built careers and profited from this theory along with revealing their shocking pasts. Shaken baby proponents are determined to silence their critics while an unthinkable number of lives are ruined.
http://www.resetfilms.com/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: (A):
Origin of the Charles Smith Blog Award: I launched the award in 2009 as a forum in which I could honour these individuals who help expose and remedy miscarriages of justice caused anywhere in the world by flawed pathology, flawed pathologists, junk science, pseudo-experts or a combination of any of the above.
UNUSUAL NATURE: This award is entirely virtual. There is no ceremony; There is no prize; There is no certificate. It is a pure and unadulterated honour bestowed by myself as publisher in recognition of contributions by others to this important facet of criminal justice.
RECIPIENTS TO DATE;
0: Kevin Morgan (AUSTRALIA): author of "Gun Alley: Murder, Lies and Failure of Justice, who single-handedly fought for and obtained the forensic materials which led to Colin Ross's pardon almost ninety years after he was executed.
0: Michael Hall (U.S.A.): For his excellent work in Texas Monthly exposing the miscarriages of justice that have occurred as a result of scent-lineups and the "experts" who conduct them, and
0: Sun-Sentinel reporter Paula McMahon (U.S.A.) for her ground-breaking reporting over a nine year period which led to the freeing and exoneration of Anthony Caravella.
O: Journalist Stewart Cockburn (AUSTRALIA) for his ground-breaking work in "The Advertiser" which exposed the miscarriage of justice suffered by Ted Splatt and triggered the Royal Commission which led to Splatt's exoneration.
0: Australian scientist Tom Mann (AUSTRALIA) for his sterling efforts to publicize the injustice perpetrated on Ted Splatt in the courts including the publication of "Flawed Forensics: The Ted Splatt case and Stewart Cockburn," a monumental book which demonstrates the tragic consequences which can unfold when science gets twisted out of proportion in the courts and those entrusted with the task of protecting our criminal justice system abdicate their responsibilities.
0: New Yorker staff writer David Grann (U.S.A.)for his awesome exposee of the faulty arson "science" that resulted in the wrongful conviction and execution in Texas of Cameron Todd Willingham. (Photo: David Grann);
0: Pamela Colloff (U.S.A) for her Texas Monthly stories which resulted in the freeing of Anthony Graves within 30 days of the appearance of her first story. Anthony Graves was convicted and sentenced to die in 1994 for six horrific murders in the Central Texas town of Somerville.
O: Spencer Hsu (U.S.A) for his revelations in the Washington Post that for years, the U.S. Department of Justice has known that flawed forensic work by FBI experts may have led to the convictions of innocent people, but prosecutors rarely told defendants or their attorneys. Hsu discovered that Justice Department officials began reviewing cases after defense attorneys pointed out problems with evidence coming out of FBI labs. But the review was limited. "As a result," Hsu wrote, "hundreds of defendants nationwide remain in prison or on parole for crimes that might merit exoneration, a retrial or a retesting of evidence using DNA because FBI hair and fiber experts may have misidentified them as suspects."
O: Robert Moles and Bibi Sangha Australia; For their monumental campaign to persuade South Australia to establish a statutory right of appeal - and the impact this will have on remedying miscarriages of justice caused by flawed forensic science.
O: Mark White: New Zealand for his investigation of the Mark Lundy case - and his exposure to the public of the many factors which made clear that Lundy could not have commited the terrible crimes. Wikipedia informs us that: "In 2009, North and South magazine published the results of an investigation into the case by Mike White titled "The Lundy murders: What the jury didn't hear." Lundy would have had only three hours to make the return journey from Petone to Palmerston North, a round trip of approximately 290 km (180 mi), kill his wife and daughter, change his clothes and dispose of evidence; White contends that was not possible in such a short time frame. In order to make it back to Petone by 8.28 pm, Lundy would have had to drive to Palmerston North in rush hour traffic at an average speed of around 117 km/h (the maximum open road speed limit in New Zealand is 100 km/h), commit the crimes, and make the return journey back to Petone at an average speed of 120 km/h. Reporter White has continued to keep the case in the public eye and has played a hugely important role in helping to rectify a terrible miscarriage of justice - and to help secure Mark Lundy's freedom. Bravo to him and to North and South, the monthly magazine that has pursued the Lundy case with vigour."
O: Filmmakers Susan Goldsmith and Meryl Goldsmith: USA; for having the courage, through their ground-breaking documentary, "The Syndrome," to unequivocally portray 'shaken baby syndrome' as what it is - baseless medical dogma disguised as science - and for exposing the vicious efforts of some doctors, prosecutors and other proponents of shaken baby syndrome to silence their critics.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: (B);
Dear Readers. Due to a 'writing' assignment, I will not be filing fresh posts for several weeks (with the exception of 'breaking news'); When I am back in action I will make up for lost time with a vengeance. In the meantime, please keep me up to date with developments and don't hesitate to bring new matters of interest to this Blog to my attention at hlevy15@gmail.com.
Best wishes,
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
PS: For latest coverage of the Mark Lundy retrial go to:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/mark-lundy-murder-retrial
