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Events • October 2, 2024 

# Shaken Baby Syndrome: Examining the Evidence in the Shadow of an Execution 

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.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

![Dr. Julie A. Mack](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-09/dr-julie-a-mack.jpeg?itok=wt9yRxoP) 

##### Dr. Julie A. Mack 

Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, and Pediatric Radiologist, Penn State University College of Medicine and Penn State Cancer Institute

![Keith A. Findley](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-09/keith-findley.jpeg?itok=deH3eg3A) 

##### Keith A. Findley 

Professor Emeritus of Law, University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School; Founder and Director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences; Founder of the Wisconsin Innocence Project

![Dr. Patrick E. Lantz](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-09/Patrick-Eugene-Lantz.jpeg?itok=huyqlj6s) 

##### Dr. Patrick E. Lantz 

Professor of Pathology, Forensic and Child Abuse Pathologist, Wake Forest University School of Medicine

[![jeff-singer-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-05/jeff-singer-cropped.jpg?itok=G_0nEnx7)](/people/jeffrey-singer) 

##### [Jeffrey A. Singer](/people/jeffrey-singer)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

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