CANR
WORK TITLE: A MINOR REVOLUTION
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.adambenforado.com
CITY: Philadelphia
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME: CA 386
http://drexel.edu/law/faculty/fulltime_fac/Adam%20Benforado/ * http://www.npr.org/2015/06/13/413912073/lawyer-argues-that-virtual-trials-would-make-justice-system-more-fair *
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: two.
EDUCATION:Attended Yale College and Oxford University; Harvard University, Law School, J.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Lawyer, educator, writer. Clerk for Judge Judith Rogers on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; Jenner & Block, LLP, trial lawyer; Drexel University, School of Law, assistant professor, 2008—; Brooklyn Law School, visiting professor, 2013.
AWARDS:Frank Knox Fellow and Visiting Scholar with the Cambridge University Faculty of Law.
WRITINGS
Contributor of chapters to books, including Anthology Ideology, Psychology, and Law. Contributor of articles to periodicals, including Emory Law Journal, Maryland Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, Cardozo Law Review, Oregon Law Review, Florida State University Law Review, St. Louis University Law Journal, Entrepreneurial Business Law Journal, Topics in Cognitive Science, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Legal Times, and Cognitive Science.
SIDELIGHTS
Lawyer, educator, and writer Adam Benforado studies and writes about the intersection between cognitive processes and bias in the legal system. He wrote the 2015 book Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice to uncover injustices in police arrests and interrogations, defense proceedings, witness reliability, jury deliberation, and judicial decisions. Benforado served his undergraduate years at Yale College and Oxford University, and earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School. During his career as a lawyer he was a federal appellate law clerk for Judge Judith Rogers on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and was a trial attorney with Jenner & Block, LLP. Benforado has published academic articles, op-ed pieces, and essays in numerous law journals and periodicals. He also speaks at public venues and schools around the country.
As a young student and lawyer, Benforado said he assumed that injustice arose from deliberate actions of bad people, such as corrupt cops or judges, or greedy corporations. Therefore he studied legal doctrine so that he could understand the intricacies of our legal rules and procedures that would help people suspected of crime. But the more he delved into court cases, the more he began to doubt. He explained to Rick Kleffel in an interview on the Rainbow Light Web site: “Many of the worst examples of unfairness in our system appeared to be brought about by people with the best of intentions. And what often mattered most seemed not to be the black letter law, but the particular thinking and behavior of the legal decision-makers.”
From there Benforado began an interest in the ways human psychological and cognitive processes influence judicial decisions and contradicts our values of fair treatment under the law. Benforado conducts novel experiments and develops existing findings to uncover the hidden forces that drive our legal system. In Unfair, he presents case studies of ways unconscious human psychology has let police officers gun down children, innocent people confess to crimes, judges randomly dole out parole, and other blatantly unfair examples in our justice system. Crime scenes, mug shots, witness accounts, circumventing of Miranda rights, and jury conduct are all results of psychology and biases. Benforado presents information from psychologists and neuroscientists to show how humans eschew facts in favor of emotion and gut feelings, generally want to label people and put them into categories, are favorable toward people who share their background, and choose sides initially and then consider only the evidence that supports that view.
In the book, Benforado offers some solutions to the problem, including the use of new technologies, such as virtual trials in which the jury cannot see the defendant and be biased against him or her. As to the option for body cameras for police officers, “I think it’s a mixed bag. On the one hand, I think there’s good research to support the idea that people behave differently when they believe that they’re being watched,” he said in an interview on NPR, but what “we have to be very, very careful about is with our assumption that a camera provides an objective take on reality.”
Overall, the book is “a stimulating critique of today’s criminal justice system with applications to recent cases in Ferguson, MO, and elsewhere,” said Library Journal writer Antoinette Brinkman. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews noted: “An original and provocative argument that upends our most cherished beliefs about providing equal justice under the law.” Online at the Inquisitive Mind, Carina Giesen said: “Unfair is a book about a lot of things that are wrong with the U.S. legal system: The way suspects and victims are perceived and treated, the at times immoral operating principles of police investigators and lawyers, and the flawed and biased set of beliefs held by judges, jury members, and the public.”
<start.new>Benforado’s second book, A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All, looks at the ways in which the country’s commitment to childcare and education are lacking. Studies have shown that resources devoted to better childcare, especially during early formative years, pay off later in life, not just to the children who receive them, but to all of society. Other advanced economies invest much more in their children’s development than the United States does. The author “offers a revelatory investigation into how America is failing its children,” wrote the contributor of a biographical blog to the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau, “and an urgent manifesto on why helping them is the best way to improve all of our lives.”
Many of the changes Benforado advocates in A Minor Revolution are ones that, while small in and of themselves, would have a huge impact on younger generations. For instance, “research shows early parental attachment is key to child development,” noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer, but “there are no federal laws guaranteeing paid childcare leave.” Making healthcare and housing more affordable and accessible would provide benefits—long-term and short-term–to everyone. “Citing researchers’ findings and abundant firsthand testimony,” stated a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “Benforado underscores his main point: Children are being victimized ‘not from our deliberate actions to disadvantage’ them ‘but from our lack of awareness.'” “Making excellent use of history and statistics,” concluded Booklist reviewer Karen Springen, “Benforado is a powerful champion of children’s rights.” <stop.new>
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, November 1, 2022, Karen Springen, review of A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All, p. 14.
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2015, review of Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice; January 1, 2023, review of A Minor Revolution.
Library Journal, April 15, 2015, Antoinette Brinkman, review of Unfair, p. 103.
Publishers Weekly, November 21, 2022, review of A Minor Revolution, p. 76.
ONLINE
Adam Benfrado website, https://www.adambenforado.com (January 27, 2023), author profile.
Choice Connect, http:/ /choiceconnect.org/ (November 1, 2015), S.E. Blankenship, review of Unfair.
Drexel University website, http://drexel.edu/ (February 1, 2016), author profile.
Federal Lawyer, http:/ /www.fedbar.org/ (February 19, 2016), Elizabeth Kelley, review of Unfair.
Greater Good Science Center, http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/ (December 15, 2015), Jill Suttie, Diana Divecha, and Jeremy Adam Smith, review of Unfair.
Inquisitive Mind, http://www.in-mind.org/ (August 26, 2015), Carina Giesen, review of Unfair.
NPR, http:// www.npr.org/ (June 13, 2015), “Lawyer Argues That Virtual Trials Would Make Justice System More Fair.”
Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau, https://www.prhspeakers.com/ (January 27, 2023), author profile.
PopMatters, http:// www.popmatters.com/ (July 15, 2015), Sarah Boslaugh, review of Unfair.
Rainbow Light, http:// www.rainbowlight.com/ (June 13, 2015), Rick Kleffel, “Adam Benforado ‘Unfair: The New Science Of Criminal Injustice’: We Are the Problem.”
San Francisco Book Review, http://www.sanfranciscobookreview.com/ (July 2, 2015), D. Wayne Dworsky, review of Unfair.*
Biography.
Adam Benforado is a professor, writer, and lawyer.
As a legal scholar and teacher, Adam’s main focus is on criminal justice and children’s rights. He is particularly interested in bringing insights from the mind sciences—most notably cognitive psychology—to law and legal theory.
Conducting novel experiments and developing existing findings, his research is dedicated to uncovering how our legal system may reflect unappreciated aspects of our cognitive frameworks and processes, and, as a consequence, how the law may fail to align with our purported values and fall short of meeting our needs.
As an undergraduate, Adam studied at Yale University and Oxford University. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and was a Frank Knox Fellow and Visiting Scholar with the Cambridge University Faculty of Law. He clerked for Judge Judith Rogers on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Adam also worked at Jenner & Block, LLP in Washington, D.C., where he handled trial and appellate litigation matters. He joined the Drexel University Kline School of Law as an assistant professor in 2008 and was granted tenure in 2013. He was a visiting professor at Brooklyn Law School in Spring 2013.
Adam has published numerous scholarly articles and book chapters, and his op-eds and essays have appeared in a variety of publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, Chronicle of Higher Education, American Scholar, and Boston Review.
His first book, Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice (Crown), was a New York Times bestseller, a #1 Audible.com bestseller, and the recipient of a variety of awards and honors: 2017 American Psychology-Law Society Book Award, 2016 Science in Society Journalism Awards Honorable Mention, Green Bag Exemplary Legal Writing Honoree, 20th Annual Books for a Better Life Awards Finalist, and Media for a Just Society Awards Finalist.
An active media voice, Adam has been interviewed by Larry King, Al Sharpton, Melissa Harris-Perry, and Scott Simon and been featured on Fresh Air. He regularly speaks to academic audiences, legal practitioners, and the public about his research.
Adam’s new book, A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All (Crown), is set to be published in Spring 2023.
He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children.
ADAM BENFORADO
PROFESSOR OF LAW
Professor Adam Benforado
CONTACT
Office: School of Law, Room 277
Email: adam.f.benforado@drexel.edu
Phone: 215.571.4809
Administrative Support:
Justin Andreani
Email: justin.anthony.andreani-fabroni@drexel.edu
Phone: 215.571.4802
BIOGRAPHY
Adam Benforado’s principal focus is on criminal justice and children’s rights. He is particularly interested in bringing insights from the mind sciences—most notably cognitive psychology—to law and legal theory. Collaborating with psychologists on novel experiments, Professor Benforado is committed to developing a more realistic understanding of the behavior of legal actors. He was awarded a National Science Foundation grant for his empirical work investigating human intuitions about punishment.
As an undergraduate, Professor Benforado studied at Yale University and Oxford University. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and was a Frank Knox Fellow and Visiting Scholar with the Cambridge University Faculty of Law. He clerked for Judge Judith Rogers on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Professor Benforado also worked at Jenner & Block, LLP in Washington, D.C., where he handled trial and appellate litigation matters.
He has published numerous scholarly articles in law reviews and scientific journals, and his op-eds and essays have appeared in a variety of publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Chronicle of Higher Education, American Scholar and Boston Review.
His acclaimed first book, “Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice,” was a New York Times bestseller, a #1 Audible.com bestseller and the recipient of a variety of awards and honors: 2017 American Psychology-Law Society Book Award, 2016 Science in Society Journalism Awards Honorable Mention, Green Bag Exemplary Legal Writing Honoree, 20th Annual Books for a Better Life Awards Finalist and Media for a Just Society Awards Finalist. It has been translated for editions in Taiwan, South Korea and China.
An active media voice, Professor Benforado has been interviewed by Larry King, Al Sharpton, Melissa Harris-Perry, and Scott Simon and been featured on Fresh Air. He regularly speaks to academic audiences, legal practitioners and the public about his research.
Professor Benforado’s new book, “A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All,” will be published by Crown in Spring 2023.
EDUCATION
JD, cum laude, Harvard Law School
BA, summa cum laude, Yale University
CV: https://drexel.edu/~/media/Files/law/Faculty/Faculty%20CVs/adam-benforado-cv.ashx?la=en
Adam Benforado
New York Times bestselling author of A Minor Revolution and Unfair
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“The arc of history does not bend toward justice unless we bend it.”
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Our republic is in crisis and to save it we must shift paradigms. Crusading law professor Adam Benforado offers an entirely new way to look at two areas of urgent concern: criminal justice and children’s rights. Weaving together riveting stories and jaw-dropping research, he reveals the hidden forces that undermine our core values and shows us how to address the profound unfairness in our midst.
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ABOUT ADAM BENFORADO
Adam Benforado is a professor, writer, and lawyer. His acclaimed first book, Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice, was a New York Times bestseller, a #1 Audible bestseller, and the recipient of a variety of awards and honors. In Unfair, Benforado sounds the alarm for pervasive biases corrupting our key legal processes and institutions, and charts a course to reaffirming our ideals. To understand what is really moving the criminal justice system in this time of anxiety, conflict, and disillusionment, you need look no further.
In his forthcoming book, A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All (February 2023), Benforado offers a revelatory investigation into how America is failing its children, and an urgent manifesto on why helping them is the best way to improve all of our lives. Drawing on the latest scientific research into the remarkable capabilities and crucial needs of young people, he makes a powerful case for putting children first, in our budgets and policies, in developing products and enacting laws, in our families and communities.
An experienced lecturer and discussion leader, Adam Benforado has been invited to speak all around the country about his work at the intersection of law, psychology, and neuroscience. With rare talent to make complex subjects understandable and exciting, he is equally comfortable speaking with experts and non-experts alike. Insightful, provocative, and passionate, no one in the audience leaves thinking the same way.
A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, he served as a federal appellate law clerk and an attorney at Jenner & Block, before joining Drexel University. He has published numerous scholarly articles, and his op-eds and essays have appeared in a variety of publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Legal Times.
Benforado, Adam A MINOR REVOLUTION Crown (NonFiction None) $28.99 2, 7 ISBN: 9781984823045
A law professor and father demonstrates how keeping children at the forefront can ensure a robust society.
Benforado argues persuasively for the need to prioritize children's welfare by the government, the law, businesses, and the community as a whole. Once the focus of progressive reformers, the rights of children have retreated into the background. No longer "in the vanguard," the U.S. has "fallen behind other advanced nations on protecting children at every stage of development." Benforado examines children's lives from infancy to the cusp of adulthood, suggesting changes that could affect them profoundly. National parental leave, for example, would foster parent-infant attachment. Investing in early childhood education, as well as greater access to health care and housing, would lessen the economic inequality that impedes many children's futures. "In America today," writes the author, "one in six kids grows up in poverty. In our largest cities, one in seven has experienced eviction by the age of fifteen." Benforado suggests reforms to the criminal justice system to account for the harmful impact of a parent's incarceration, and he lays out the reasons we must reconsider harsh sentences imposed on young offenders. The author cites psychological and sociological studies to support his proposal of granting the vote to adolescents, who, he contends, are often more politically literate than many adults. Even partial suffrage would give young people input on issues that are particularly relevant to them; alternatively, their votes could be weighted based on age. Young people's voices, perspectives, and leadership, the author believes, can bring about changes in areas beyond government. "On many issues," he asserts, "young people may encourage us to rethink long-held assumptions, reform antiquated practices, and seize opportunities." Citing researchers' findings and abundant firsthand testimony, Benforado underscores his main point: Children are being victimized "not from our deliberate actions to disadvantage" them "but from our lack of awareness."
A thoughtful and practical manifesto for large-scale reform.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Benforado, Adam: A MINOR REVOLUTION." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A731562166/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=aacef87d. Accessed 14 Jan. 2023.
A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All
Adam Benforado. Crown, $28.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-984823-04-5
In this persuasive and wide-ranging study, Drexel University law professor Benforado (Unfair) draws on scientific studies, policy research, and case hisrories to show an urgent need to "put children first" in law enforcement, education, parenting, and other areas. Arguing that policymakers typically prioritize adults' needs over children's, Benforado notes that even though research shows early parental attachment is key to child development, there are no federal laws guaranteeing paid childcare leave; as a result, almost half of American parents are back to work within three days of childbirth. Elsewhere, he criticizes legislation and judicial rulings based on the notion that "mom and dad are the gatekeepers to knowledge," cites evidence that young workers "have the highest levels of discriminatory experiences of any age group," and catalogs military recruitment campaigns that target kids as young as 1 3 ("We are so inured to the idea that the young should fight and the old should lead that it can be hard to grasp the unfairness of our system"). Among other solutions, he proposes the creation of a federal Children's Bureau that would coordinate with environmental, health, education, and legal agencies to ensure young people's rights are considered. Deeply researched and passionately argued, this is an irrefutable call for change. (Feb.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 PWxyz, LLC
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"A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 48, 21 Nov. 2022, p. 76. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A728493594/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a7b7ee19. Accessed 14 Jan. 2023.
A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All. By Adam Benforado. Feb. 2023.384p. Crown, $28.99 (9781984823045). 301.08.
The kids aren't all right. The U.S. doesn't guarantee Americans any paid time off to care for a newborn or adopted child, so nearly half of parents report taking fewer than three days. On any given day in the U.S., over 400,000 kids are in the foster-care system. And since 2009, more than 500,000 children who are U.S. citizens have had their parents deported. Law professor Benforado compellingly argues that all Americans would be better off if the country treated its littlest inhabitants well. Under federal law, it is illegal to harass or discriminate against someone based on that person's age, but only if the person is 40 or older. Teenagers and recent college graduates are not protected, so they can be called names, given inferior work, and denied a job or fired just because they're young. And problems are worse for children of color. Today, 41 percent of white, college-educated families inherit more than $10,000 whereas just 13 percent of Black college-educated families do. Making excellent use of history and statistics, Benforado is a powerful champion of children's rights.--Karen Springen
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 American Library Association
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Springen, Karen. "A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 5-6, 1 Nov. 2022, p. 14. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A727772339/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=772ed5eb. Accessed 14 Jan. 2023.