[1] In a wide-ranging career, Dr. Halpern was a champion of human rights especially in matters of law and mental health and was one of the founding leaders of the psychiatric sub-specialty of forensic psychiatry.
In 1965, Dr. Halpern participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches with Martin Luther King Jr., manning one of the ambulances in support of protestors.
[2] Dr. Halpern had been a long-standing member of the UN Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, representing both the International Council of Prison Medical Services and the World Psychiatric Association.
[3] Halpern is also a very strong opponent of the death penalty; he has written extensively on the subject of physician participation in executions.
[5] Halpern has advocated for the abolition of the insanity defense[6] Served on active duty in Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve from Sep. 24, 1942 to Nov. 30, 1945 in European, North Atlantic, and Pacific theatres.