MDLPA: Mental Disability Law and Criminal Law
Presented by: Michael Perlin, JD and Heather Ellis Cucolo, JD
20 Hours / 20 CEs
On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training
This on-demand professional training program on Mental Disability Law and Criminal Law is presented by Michael L. Perlin, JD, and Heather Ellis Cucolo, JD, in partnership with Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates (MDLPA). This badge-earning program can be shared digitally on platforms like LinkedIn or your resume and counts towards a certificate. Enroll in this program to earn credit towards Mental Disability Law Certificate and share your new digital credentials with prospective employers and colleagues.
This program explores in depth the relationship between mental disability and the criminal trial process. Topics include all aspects of the criminal incompetency status (including trial, plea, counsel waiver, and other pre-trial, trial, and post-trial stages); the insanity defense; institutionalization and release policies that govern the cases of persons found permanently incompetent to stand trial and those found not guilty by reason of insanity; the right of forensic patients to refuse antipsychotic medications; the role of mental disability evidence in other aspects of criminal trial and pre-trial proceedings (including confessions and privilege against self-incrimination matters); sentencing, the death penalty (including issues involving mitigation, predictions of future dangerousness, executability of persons with mental retardation, and competency to be executed); and the effectiveness of counsel in cases involving defendants with mental disabilities.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:
- 1 Describe how experts and attorneys interact at all stages of the criminal prosecution (pre- trial, at trial and post-trial)
- 2 Describe aspects of the criminal incompetency status including: competency to stand trial, competency to waive counsel, competency to plead guilty, and “other” competencies (pre-trial, at trial and post-trial)
- 3 Describe all issues related to the refusal of medication in cases involving forensic patients
- 4 Describe issues related to those currently incompetent to stand trial, those pleading the insanity defense, and those who have been convicted
- 5 Describe the insanity defense
- 6 Describe all issues related to the role of mental disability evidence at trial
- 7 Describe confessions and privilege against self-incrimination
- 8 Describe the interaction between experts and attorneys during sentencing and the significance of mental disability in Federal Sentencing Guidelines cases
- 9 Describe the full spectrum of issues in death penalty cases involving persons with mental disabilities (including those with mental illness and those with intellectual disabilities),
- 10 Describe questions of mitigation
- 11 Describe eligibility for the death penalty
- 12 Describe competency to be executed
Presented By
Michael L. Perlin, JD, Professor of Law Emeritus at New York Law School (NYLS)
Michael L. Perlin is Professor of Law Emeritus at New York Law School (NYLS), founding director of NYLS’s Online Mental Disability Law Program, and founding director of NYLS’s International Mental Disability Law Reform Project in its Justice Action Center. He is also the co-founder of Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates. He has written 31 books and nearly 300 articles on all aspects of mental disability law, many of which deal with the overlap between mental disability law and criminal law and procedure.
Presented By
Heather Ellis Cucolo, JD, Prof. Distinguished Adj., NYLS; Owner, MDLPA; Prof. Adj., Emory University School of Law; Bd. Dir. Collier School
Heather Ellis Cucolo is Distinguished Adjunct professor of law and the facilitator of the joint JD/MA program with John Jay College of Criminal Justice, at New York Law School (NYLS). She is also an adjunct professor in the JM Program at Emory University School of Law, and a Fellowship faculty member at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In addition to those roles, Professor Cucolo is co-owner of Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates, a legal education and professional training company, and was elected to the board of trustees for the International Society of Therapeutic Jurisprudence, a non-profit organization. Formerly, in her full-time legal practice, Professor Cucolo dedicated her career to representing individuals at trial facing civil commitment under both the New Jersey Mental Hygiene Law and New Jersey’s Sexually Violent Predators Act. She authored and argued appeals before the New Jersey Appellate Division with over 27 reported decisions. She has published four textbooks and over 21 law review articles with mentions in an Eastern District of New York court decision and an Iowa appellate decision. She was honored to receive the Otto L. Walter Distinguished Writing Award for two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019. Professor Cucolo’s international work has included: expert testimony on extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States for persons convicted of a sex offense; pro bono advocacy for LawAid International; speaking at the United Nations on the rights of persons with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific region; and the creation of an instructional course on disability legislation for attorneys in Japan.
Training Outline
Key topics covered in this training include:
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Criminal Competency:
-Substantive, Procedural, and Dispositional -
Criminal Competency:
-Competency to Waive Counsel and Plead Guilty -
Insanity Defense:
-Substantive -
Insanity Defense:
-Procedural, Dispositional, Myths, and Politics -
Refusal of Medication in Forensic Cases Trial-Related Issues Participants will learn in-depth about criminal incompetency status, defenses, and related issues
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Trial Process Issues
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Issues as the Sentencing Stage and upon Conviction
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Death Penalty in Cases of Defendants with Mental Disabilities
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Death Penalty in Cases of Mentally ill and Intellectually Disabled
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Adequacy of Counsel
Earning a Certificate
This is a badge-earning program, which means it will help you earn a certificate that can be showcased on digital platforms like LinkedIn.
We are proud to partner with
Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates (MDLPA)
We are proud to partner with Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates, LLC for this training. MDLPA is a boutique educational training company that offers specialized mental disability law consulting, the creation or enhancement of distance learning programs, in-house or online courses, and day or weekend training seminars to reputable organizations, educational institutions, professional groups, and advocacy groups focused on providing advanced knowledge and skills to persons working with marginalized populations.
CE Sponsorship Information
Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here.
American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.
Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.
Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.
National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).
Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.