Director
joining the faculty at John Jay she completed a pre-doctoral clinical internship at Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School. She currently serves on the New York City Bar Association’s Juvenile Justice Committee.
Dr. Haney-Caron is a licensed psychologist in New York and a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania. She has worked with Juvenile Law Center, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Capital Habeas Unit. Additionally, she has done clinical work within a secure residential juvenile justice facility and in a family court clinic as well as a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings.
Emily Haney-Caron is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Dr. Haney-Caron's research, scholarship, policy work, and teaching are all focused on the juvenile legal system, with a primary goal of contributing to system reform to increase racial justice and improve the system’s developmental appropriateness. She has published research or scholarship on racism and colorism in the juvenile legal system, youth Miranda comprehension, false confession, fines and fees in the juvenile legal system, the school-to-prison pipeline, developmental immaturity, psychopathology among legally involved youth, and applications of the Risk-Needs-Responsivity model to juvenile justice. Dr. Haney-Caron's scholarship has been profiled by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and MSNBC, and has been cited in U.S. Supreme Court amicus briefs and a U.S. Department of Justice Advisory.
Dr. Haney-Caron teaches doctoral courses on forensic assessment, the law of forensic psychology, juvenile justice, and psychopathology, as well as Master's and undergraduate classes at the intersection of psychology and law. Before
SYDNEY BAKER
Doctoral Student
Sydney Baker is a fifth-year Clinical Psychology doctoral candidate at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She graduated from The University of Maryland, College Park with degrees in Psychology and Criminology/Criminal Justice. Then, she worked as a Social/Clinical Research Assistant at the Biobehavioral Research on Addiction and Emotion Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where her main duties were coordinating an NIH-funded study examining the effectiveness of technology-enhanced behavioral activation treatment for substance use. Now, at John Jay, Sydney is interested in conducting translational research that has direct implications for public policy reform. In the Youth Law & Psychology Lab, she works on a variety of projects aimed at understanding how juvenile legal system procedures, such as the interrogation and plea process, can be improved to more accurately reflect adolescent development.
DOCTORAL STUDENTS
LILI RAMOS
Doctoral Student
Lili Ramos is a third-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She graduated from Bowdoin College in 2018, with a major in Psychology and a minor in Hispanic Studies. Before starting at John Jay, Lili spent two years as a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health Lab at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). At UCSF, Lili worked on multiple studies aimed at improving behavioral health outcomes for youth involved in the juvenile legal and foster care systems. At John Jay, Lili works on several projects that aim to inform juvenile legal system policies and practice reforms, including studies examining factors that contribute to adolescents’ experiences on probation and judges’ perceptions of juvenile plea bargain processes. Lili was recently selected for the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which will support her work applying an ecological approach to better understand youth success on probation.
MASTER'S STUDENTS
TAJAE ALI
Master's Student
Tajae Ali is a first year Master's student in the Forensic Psychology program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She earned her Bachelor's degree at Rutgers University-Camden where she double majored in Psychology and Criminal Justice. During her time at Rutgers, she served as a research assistant for the Risk and Resilience lab which focused on studying the traumatic effects women experienced from intimate partner violence. During her time at John Jay, Tajae is interested in conducting research on youth involved in the juvenile justice system and studying ways in which recidivism rates amongst them can be decreased as well as policies that can be put into placed to reform the juvenile justice system.
KAILLEE PHILLEO
Master's Student
Kaillee Philleo is a second-year master’s student in the Forensic Mental Health Counseling M.A. program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She earned her Bachelor’s at Roanoke College, where she double majored in Psychology and Criminal Justice. During her time at Roanoke College, she served as a research assistant to Dr. Lindsey Osterman, and completed two independent research studies and an undergraduate honors thesis that examined the effects of transitions on parasocial relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. While at John Jay, Kaillee is interested in exploring research related to juvenile justice and assisting with various project tasks in the lab.
TREASURE TABOR
Master's Student
Treasure Tabor is a second-year master’s student in the Forensic Mental Health Counseling M.A. program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She earned her first master’s in Forensic Psychology at Kean University. Previously, she earned her bachelor’s in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice from Hampton University. Some of her research interests include juvenile Miranda comprehension and juvenile false confessions. In the Youth Law and Psychology Lab, Treasure contributes to various projects. After graduation, she plans to work with justice-involved youth as a licensed mental health counselor and then pursue her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.
SYDNEY TULLOCH
Master's Student
Sydney Tulloch is a second-year Master's student in the Forensic Mental Health Counseling M.A. program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She received her Bachelor's of Arts at the University of Miami with the majors of Psychology and Communication Studies and minor in Criminology. While at John Jay, Sydney is interested in researching the adjudication process of juveniles, specifically involving juveniles' comprehension of their Miranda Rights and how their comprehension affects their decision making in legal matters.
UNDERGRADUATES
ALIJAH SEPULVEDA
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Alijah Sepulveda is a senior at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She is a student under the Macaulay Honors College, and a scholar in the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. She is conducting research exploring differences between Black and White parents' perceptions and advice concerning plea bargains for their children. After graduation, Alijah intends to pursue her doctoral degree in Forensic Psychology.
LAB ALUMNI
CHARISE PETERS
Master's Student
Charise Peters is a first year Master’s student in the Forensic Psychology M.A. program at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She earned her Bachelor’s at Temple University, where she majored in Psychology and minored in Criminal Justice. During her time at Temple, she served as a research assistant for the Child and Adolescent Development of Emotion, Personality, and Psychopathology Lab, where she completed an independent research project that focused on experiences of childhood maltreatment and their effect on approach and avoidance learning for both monetary and social learning. While at John Jay, Charise is interested in researching the relationship between developmental and psychopathological factors, such as experiences of childhood maltreatment and personality traits, and their effect on both adult and juvenile legal decision making and offending behavior.
JOHANNA HELLGREN
Doctoral Student
Johanna Hellgren earned her PhD from the Psychology and Law program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Originally from Sweden, she graduated from University of Stockholm before coming to New York and John Jay to pursue her master’s in forensic psychology. Johanna is now a post-doctoral research fellow at the Quattrone Center at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law. Johanna’s research broadly concerns ensuring the rights of defendants, both juvenile and adults, in the plea-bargaining process, both for adults and juveniles. She is also interested in investigating how different forms of evidence influence attorney’s and defendant’s plea decisions. Johanna has published research on the influence of interrogation of suspect behavior in collaboration with Dr. Saul Kassin. In the Youth Law & Psychology Lab, Johanna worked on the plea legal landscape project which examines US states’ statues and rules regarding juvenile plea bargaining.
ALIYA BIRNBAUM
Master's Student
Aliya Birnbaum graduated from both Forensic Mental Health Counseling M.A. program and the M.A. in Forensic Psychology program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She earned her bachelor’s degree in both Psychology and Criminology at the University of South Florida. Aliya is currently a clinical psychology doctoral student at Montclair State University. Her clinical and research interests in forensic psychology are juvenile justice policy reform, the relationship between race and the legal system, and severe mental illness in the justice system. She co-authored a paper that explores how childhood trauma translates into internalized and externalized behavior. While at John Jay, Aliya was awarded the Pinkerton Fellowship and completed an externship at the Bronx Defenders. She also wrote a thesis examining the intersection between attorney race and the juvenile plea bargain process and contributed to policy work for the lab.
JESSICA MIDDLETON
Legal Research and Policy Intern
Jessica Middleton attended the Drexel Kline School of Law. In the Youth Law & Psychology lab, she worked on the Plea Bargaining Project, helping to research plea bargains as pertains to juvenile justice. Jessica hopes to work in the field of Family Law upon graduation from law school.
DIANA DAMEWOOD
Legal Research and Policy Intern
Diana Damewood earned her JD from the Drexel University Kline School of Law. In the Youth Law & Psychology lab, she is working on researching case law regarding juvenile Miranda rights. Diana is pursuing a career in community based legal aid services.
DENIEKA ELLIS
Master's Student
Denieka Ellis graduated from John Jay in summer 2020 with an MA in Forensic Psychology. She is now a doctoral student at NOVA Southeastern University, where she is pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology. Her clinical and research interests include juror and legal decision making, racial and gender disparity in the criminal justice system, juvenile justice policy and reform and behavioral and mental health evaluation and assessment. In the Youth Law & Psychology lab, she worked on a plea bargaining project examining juvenile plea bargaining cases and codes throughout the United States. She also completed a thesis, which examined youth demographic factors that impact juror perception and subsequent verdict.
ERIKA DIAZ ORTIZ
Master's Student
Erika Diaz Ortiz graduated from John Jay College with an MA in Forensic Psychology in 2020 and from Williams College with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and English in 2017. Erika is intent on pursuing a career at the intersection between psychological and legal research, working to advocate for the reform of existing policies that contribute to the unfair treatment of individuals in the criminal justice system. In the Youth Law & Psychology Lab, she contributed to research on juvenile Miranda rights and guilty pleas, the ultimate goal of which is to promote policy change that will better serve and protect at-risk justice-involved youth. Erika's independent research shares this goal, as she examined social stigmatization experienced by adolescents as an unforeseen consequence of justice involvement.
KAMAR TAZI
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Kamar Tazi graduated from John Jay College with a Bachelor's degree in Forensic Psychology. She is now a Clinical Psychology doctoral student at the University of North Texas. While working in the Youth Law and Psychology lab, Kamar contributed to various projects. Most recently she worked on the Miranda case law project and assisted with training legal interns on adolescent development.
ALIZA KLINGENSTEIN
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Aliza Klingenstein graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. Her research interests are juvenile and adult forensic psychology, especially pertaining to judgment and decision making. Aliza plans to pursue a graduate degree in Psychology in continuation of her study of the intersection of Psychology and Law.