02/05/2025
By Eika Hunt
Guest Speaker: Judge Kerry Ahern
First Justice, Essex Juvenile Court
February 25, 2025, 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Coburn Hall, Room 255
Open to students, faculty and staff
Neuroscience research focusing on the teenage brain has led to significant breakthroughs in our understanding of how young brains evolve and the impact different stages of neuro-development have on judgement and self- regulation. Our guest speaker will focus on how the workings of the juvenile justice system are informed by these insights into adolescent development .
Kerry Ahern is the First Justice of the Essex Juvenile Court. She was appointed to the Juvenile Court in 2014. Judge Ahern graduated from the University of Lowell, magna cum laude, and New England School of Law, cum laude. She was an Assistant District Attorney in the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office for fourteen years, where she served in various roles including Director of the District Courts and Deputy Chief of the Superior Court Team, Lowell Region. Upon leaving the District Attorney’s Office, she represented juveniles in delinquency and youthful offender matters and represented children and parents in CRA and care and protection cases.
Sponsored by UMass Lowell School of Criminology and Justice Studies and the Criminal Justice Alumni Board.
For more information, please contact Eika_Hunt@uml.edu.