Shaken Baby Syndrome: Link to Cato Institute on-line event titled, 'Shaken Baby Syndrome: Examining the evidence in the shadow of an execution.'…"The event, held on October 2, 2024 (While Robert Roberson was facing an execution date HL) was moderated by Dr. Jeffrey A. Singer, and featured featured: Julie Mack, MD, pediatric radiologist and Penn State Medical School professor; Patrick E. Lantz, professor of pathology and forensic pathology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine; and Keith A. Findley, professor emeritus of law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School and director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences."

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LINK TO 'SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME: EXAMINING THE EVIDENCE IN THE SHADOW OF AN EXECUTION: 

https://www.cato.org/events/shaken-baby-syndrome-examining-evidence-shadow-

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MODERATOR: Jeffrey A. Singer is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and works in the Department of Health Policy Studies. He is President Emeritus and founder of Valley Surgical Clinics Ltd., the largest and oldest group private surgical practice in Arizona, and has been in private practice as a general surgeon for more than 35 years.

MISSION: The mission of the Cato Institute is to keep the principles, ideas, and moral case for liberty alive for future generations while moving public policy in the direction of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace.

ACCOMPANYING DESCRIPTION OF PANEL: "The medical diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, or abusive head trauma (SBS/AHT), arose from a hypothesis developed in the early 1970s. Over the decades, it has led to thousands of criminal court convictions and family court determinations taking children from their parents. The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome claims that law enforcement authorities process at least 1,300 SBS/AHT cases per year. The diagnosis has attained iconic status within the medical specialty of child abuse pediatrics. Yet, for the past few decades, outside of the child abuse pediatrics specialty, the scientific, medical, and legal literature has been replete with challenges to the reliability of the diagnosis. With the first-in-the-nation execution of Robert Roberson based on the SBS/AHT diagnosis scheduled two weeks from now in Texas, the trustworthiness of the diagnosis is increasingly relevant. A panel of medical and forensic science experts will examine the issue in depth."

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Additional Resources

• Consensus Statement on Abusive Head Trauma in Infants and Young Children
• Feigned Consensus: Usurping the Law in Shaken Baby Syndrome/​Abusive Head Trauma Prosecutions
• Outside the Echo Chamber: A Response to the “consensus Statement on Abusive Head Trauma in Infants and Young Children”
• Researchers Say Criterion for Diagnosing Child Abuse Not Always Accurate
• Appeals Court Agrees Shaken Baby Syndrome Is “Junk Science”’” in Some Cases
• Texas May Execute a Man Based on Flawed Science. Will Abbott Intervene?

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The  entire post can be read at: 

https://www.cato.org/blog/shaken-baby-syndrome-hypothesis-keeps-sending-innocent-people-prison

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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