Written by Tana Fye

Flawed Convictions: “Shaken Baby Syndrome” and the Inertia of Injustice by Deborah Tuerkheimer

This book took me a long time to read, because I kept getting so angry that I had to stop reading it. And when there were stories of convictions and cases from Nebraska, and involving one particular child abuse doctor in Omaha (who I find to be reprehensible with respect to her willful ignoring changing science and new literature, and her willingness to see people go to prison based solely on her ignorant testimony), I almost quit the book. I have had a case involving shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma, and lost on the basis of just the kind of outdated science that this book is all about. What made me continue reading was the simple fact that I’m likely to have another shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma case in my career, and I need to be aware of the changing science and legal response to these cases. This is a tough book to read, but one that attorneys in particular, but really all people need to read.