Legal Information Professionals

January 25, 2026

Brain Stimulation and Crime Prevention: Separating Science from Speculation

In recent years, advances in neuroscience have sparked interest in whether brain stimulation technologies might contribute to crime prevention. Techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have been studied for their effects on impulse control, aggression, and moral decision-making traits often associated with criminal behavior. While this research is scientifically intriguing, its relevance to criminal justice policy remains limited and contested.

The Neuroscience Rationale

Much of the interest in brain stimulation stems from findings linking antisocial or impulsive behavior to dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain responsible for executive control, emotional regulation, and judgment. Laboratory studies suggest that stimulating this area can temporarily enhance self control or reduce aggressive responses in controlled settings. These findings have led some commentators to speculate whether neurological interventions could someday complement traditional crime-prevention strategies.

January 18, 2026

Should the American Bar Association Be the Sole Accrediting Authority for U.S. Law Schools?

by David Badertscher

For more than a century, the American Bar Association has played a central role in shaping legal education in the United States through its authority to accredit law schools. ABA accreditation is widely regarded as the gold standard: graduates of ABA accredited schools are eligible to sit for the bar examination in all U.S. jurisdictions, and accreditation is often viewed as a proxy for institutional legitimacy and educational quality.

Yet in recent years, critics have questioned whether a single private professional organization should retain exclusive control over accreditation in a diverse, evolving legal education landscape. The debate raises fundamental questions about educational quality, access to the profession, innovation, and regulatory accountability.

The Case for Exclusive ABA Accreditation

December 28, 2025

AI and the Law/Justice Information Professional: What 2026 and Beyond Will Demand

by David Badertscher

Introduction.

This posting draws on guidance and analysis from AALL, IFLA, ACRL, the ABA, Thomson Reuters, LexisNexis, NIST, Stanford HAI, and the World Economic Forum, among others. Artificial intelligence is no longer a speculative “future issue” for law and justice information professionals. By 2026, AI will be embedded, sometimes invisibly, into many legal research platforms, court systems, compliance workflows, and knowledge-management environments. The central question is no longer whether AI will affect our work, but how it reshapes professional responsibility, judgment, and value.

From Research Assistance to Research Accountability