<< Back to Faculty Richard Bonnie Professor of Law, Medicine, and Public Policy; Director of Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy Education & Training LLB, University of Virginia Law School, 1969 BA, The Johns Hopkins University 434-924-3209 rbonnie@virginia.edu 580 Massie Road, Room WB 179D Curriculum Vitae (131.11 KB) Courses taught Legal and Moral Dimensions of Public Policy Areas of focus Health Policy UVA partners School of Law Richard J. Bonnie is Harrison Foundation Professor of Law and Medicine, Professor of Public Policy, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, and Director of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. He teaches and writes about health law and policy, bioethics, criminal law, and public policies relating to mental health, substance abuse, and public health. He has co-authored leading textbooks on criminal law and public health law. His first book, The Marijuana Conviction: A History of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States (1974) was republished in 1999 as a “drug policy classic.” Professor Bonnie has been actively involved in public service throughout his career. Among other positions, he has been Associate Director of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse (1971‑73); Secretary of the first National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse (1975‑ 80); chair of Virginia’s State Human Rights Committee responsible for protecting rights of persons with mental disabilities (1979-85), and chief advisor for the ABA Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards Project (1981-88). He recently chaired a Commission on Mental Health Law Reform at the request of the Chief Justice of Virginia (2006-2011) and is now chairing an expert advisory panel for the Virginia General Assembly’s Study of Mental Health Services in the 21st Century. Professor Bonnie has served as an advisor to the American Psychiatric Association Council on Psychiatry and Law since 1979, received the APA’s Isaac Ray Award in 1998 for contributions to the field of forensic psychiatry, and was awarded special presidential commendations in 2003 and 2016 for his contributions to American psychiatry. He has also served on three MacArthur Foundation research networks – on Mental Health and the Law (1988-96), Mandated Community Treatment (2000–2010) and Law and Neuroscience (since 2008). Professor Bonnie was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 1991 and has chaired numerous studies for the National Academies on subjects ranging from elder mistreatment to underage drinking, including the landmark report, Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation (2007). Most recently, he chaired two Academy studies on juvenile justice reform (2013, 2014) as well as related studies on the health and well-being of young adults (2014) and the minimum legal age for access to tobacco (2015). He is currently chairing a study on policies needed to end the opioid epidemic in the United States. He received the Yarmolinsky Medal in 2002 for his contributions to the National Academies. He was elected to the American Law Institute in 2014. In 2007, Professor Bonnie received the University of Virginia’s highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson Award. Related Content Essentials Of Public Health Ethics Research Interventions Used by Virginia's Colleges to Respond to Student Mental Health Crises Research Objective: This study examined interventions by colleges in 2008–2009 to respond to students during mental health crises. Methods: Public (N=15) and private (N=25) four-year colleges and two-year community colleges (N=23) in Virginia were surveyed about academic policies governing responses to apparent mental health crises among students and how often they were invoked. Should a Personality Disorder Qualify as a Mental Disease in Insanity Adjudication? Research The determinative issue in applying the insanity defense is whether the defendant experienced a legally relevant functional impairment at the time of the offense. Categorical exclusion of personality disorders from the definition of mental disease is clinically and morally arbitrary because it may lead to unfair conviction of a defendant with a personality disorder who actually experienced severe, legally relevant impairments at the time of the crime. The Virtues of Pragmatism in Drug Policy Research This conference addresses “obstacles to development and use of pharmacotherapies in the treatment of addiction.” I will focus on the challenges of increasing use of medical agents if they are developed. Howard Zonana and the Transformation of Forensic Psychiatry Research In recognition of Howard Zonana’s contributions, I take stock of the progress of the field of forensic psychiatry over three decades. As forensic psychiatrists, you are the voice of psychiatry in the law and the interpreter of law to your colleagues in psychiatry. View All
Interventions Used by Virginia's Colleges to Respond to Student Mental Health Crises Research Objective: This study examined interventions by colleges in 2008–2009 to respond to students during mental health crises. Methods: Public (N=15) and private (N=25) four-year colleges and two-year community colleges (N=23) in Virginia were surveyed about academic policies governing responses to apparent mental health crises among students and how often they were invoked.
Should a Personality Disorder Qualify as a Mental Disease in Insanity Adjudication? Research The determinative issue in applying the insanity defense is whether the defendant experienced a legally relevant functional impairment at the time of the offense. Categorical exclusion of personality disorders from the definition of mental disease is clinically and morally arbitrary because it may lead to unfair conviction of a defendant with a personality disorder who actually experienced severe, legally relevant impairments at the time of the crime.
The Virtues of Pragmatism in Drug Policy Research This conference addresses “obstacles to development and use of pharmacotherapies in the treatment of addiction.” I will focus on the challenges of increasing use of medical agents if they are developed.
Howard Zonana and the Transformation of Forensic Psychiatry Research In recognition of Howard Zonana’s contributions, I take stock of the progress of the field of forensic psychiatry over three decades. As forensic psychiatrists, you are the voice of psychiatry in the law and the interpreter of law to your colleagues in psychiatry.