U.S. District Court Chief Judge to Lecture on the Law and Brain Science

CHIEF JUDGE LORETTA PRESKA OF THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT TO LECTURE AT SAINT ROSE ON THE LAW AND FORENSIC BRAIN SCIENCE

The College of Saint Rose presents an evening with Saint Rose alumna and jurist in residence Chief Judge Loretta A. Preska of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Preska will discuss “Law and Neuroscience: The Terror and Promise of Forensic Brain Science” in a lecture Thursday, October 8, at 5:30 p.m. in the Carl E. Touhey Forum, Thelma P. Lally School of Education, 1009 Madison Ave., Albany, New York.

A panel discussion will follow Preska’s address. Panelists will include Richard Hartunian, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York; prominent criminal defense attorney E. Stewart Jones Jr.; and Dr. Robert Flint, professor of psychology at Saint Rose. Daniel P. Nolan, Saint Rose trustee and president and CEO of Hugh Johnson Advisors, will moderate.

“I look forward to the discussion among these outstanding medical and legal experts regarding how new developments in neuroscience and neuropsychology may become the basis for re-examining how we punish and who we hold responsible for criminal behaviors,” said Preska.

The program is free and open to the public by advance reservation. Reserve by email to leiboldh@strose.edu or phone 518-485-3826.

Preska has served as chief judge since June 2009. She was appointed to the bench by President George H. W. Bush in 1992. President George W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2008. She served as a member of the Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1998 to 2004 and on the board of the Federal Judicial Center from 2008 to 2012. In addition, Preska has served on the Regional Panel to choose White House Fellows.

Standouts among the many notable cases over which Preska has presided include:

• Bloomberg LP’s suit against the Federal Reserve Board under the Freedom of Information Act seeking the names of private financial firms that received taxpayer bailout money in 2007 and 2008;

• Somali pirate Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, who led a gang that attacked three different ships, including the Maersk Alabama, in the Indian Ocean;

• Hector Xavier Monsegur and Jeremy Hammond, “hacktivists” connected with the online group Anonymous;

• Bronx Household of Faith’s long-running litigation concerning worship in New York City public schools on weekends.

A 1970 graduate of Saint Rose, Preska earned a juris doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law in 1973 and a master of laws (LL.M.) degree in trade regulation from New York University School of Law in 1978. While in law school, Preska clerked for Albany County District Attorney Arnold Proskin. Following graduation, she practiced as an associate at Cahill, Gordon and Reindel in 1973 and became a partner at Hertzog, Calamari and Gleason in 1983. In her private practice, Preska served as special trial counsel to the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the New York Appellate Division, First Department, and represented clients at the trial and appellate levels in commercial civil litigation, including antitrust, defamation, securities, and contract and federal regulatory matters.

Preska’s many honors include the Fordham Law Alumni Association’s Medal of Achievement (1998), New York County Lawyers Association Federal Courts Committee’s Edward J. Weinfeld Award for Excellence in the Administration of Justice (2001), Catholic Lawyers Guild Charles Carroll Award (2004), the New York State Bar Association’s Stanley H. Fuld Award (2009), and the New York State Women’s Bar Association President’s Special Award (2011). Saint Rose awarded Preska an honorary degree in 1995.