Neurolaw: Taking "Free Will" and "Individual Culpability" Out of the Legal Equation

[LAGC]

The Baylor College of Medicine has a ground-breaking new Initiative on Neuroscience and the Law, directed by David Eagleman, PhD, who holds joint appointments in the Neuroscience and Psychiatry departments there at the Baylor College of Medicine.

At the heart of the research, is the idea that perhaps the criminal justice system should be radically transformed, and instead of punishing people based on how "guilty" they are of any given crime, we should instead look at how likely they are to recidivate, to commit the same crime in the future? Moving the focus from primarily punitive measures to looking at ways to truly rehabilitate criminals, as a way of maximizing public safety and promoting greater justice for all.

Check out the work they are doing and view a fascinating free introductory lecture by Dr. Eagleman here: http://neulaw.org/

Course Summary

This course addresses how new discoveries in neuroscience will intersect with the making of law, the punishment of criminals, and the development of new rehabilitation strategies. The readings will bring together a unique conjunction of neurobiology, legal scholarship, and policy making. The goals of the course will be to facilitate an understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of behaviors that are subject to legal consequences for individuals and groups, and using this emerging base of scientific information to design modern, evidence-based policy.

In conjunction with currently available literature on the topic, individual student projects will study and develop suggestions for new experiments and evidence-based policy. An example would be designing experiments that could identify neural signatures predictive of recidivism, and developing the policy structures in which these predictions should be used.

[bananas]

1. Punishing people for crimes they haven't committed is unconstitutional (for good reason).

Punishing people for crimes they haven't committed is wrong on so many levels.

[LAGC]

2. It's not about punishment, its about public safety.

It's not like they are going to set up a Department of Pre-Crime and force everyone to submit to fMRI tests to detect "thoughtcrimes" before they happen, for Christ sakes.

It's more about what to do after someone commits a crime and lands in jail, how do you determine who is a good candidate for early release or parole? Right now, the system is very hit and miss, "like throwing darts at a dart-board" as the professor put it. Half the time the parole board gets it right and the offender gets released and doesn't re-offend, but the other half the time they go out and fall right back into the same negative anti-social behavior.

I mean, if you have a better idea of how to figure out which sex offenders aren't going to go out and rape and molest children again, I'm all ears.

In the meantime, I support such research in this area to try to develop tools to help detect high-risk offenders and rehabilitate them. If this science can be perfected, it could lead to over-all LESS incarceration of prisoners, not more.

[bananas]

3. The OP specifically says "punishment"

If it's not about punishment, why did you say punishment?
'instead of punishing people based on how "guilty" they are'
'the punishment of criminals'

[LAGC]

4. I said INSTEAD of punishing.

Just watch that short lecture by Dr. Eagleman there on that web-site, its only 30 minutes long and really sums up what they are trying to accomplish, a lot better than I could.

Its not as sinister as it may seem.

[bananas]

5. I watched 30 seconds and won't waste any more of my time.

"You are your brain" - nope.

[LAGC]

6. You mean we're not our brain?

That's funny, then why do people's personalities change if they suffer brain injuries?

Why do people who develop brain diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's become vegetables?

Your contempt for the field of neuroscience is duly noted.

[bananas]

7. Your contempt for reality is duly noted. nt

[LAGC]

9. Well, why don't you explain "reality" to me then?

If we aren't the products of our brain functioning, what are we then?

Cut off someone's arm or leg and they are still the same thinking person.

Decapitate someone's head and they... stop thinking and functioning altogether.

Seems pretty straight forward to me.

[bananas]

11. Is it possible to explain "reality" to a brain?

[LAGC]

12. A living brain, yes. Not a dead brain.

You're being purposefully obtuse.

[bananas]

14. That wasn't my point.

My point was that you can't explain reality to a disembodied brain which isn't in contact with reality.

Recidivism is highly dependent on the environment,
you can't just isolate the brain from the environment.

Judges used to have a lot of discretion in sentencing,
they would sentence people based on high likely they were
to commit a crime again, but there was inherent bias in this,
so mandatory sentencing rules were established,
but those were also biased.

[LAGC]

15. Now you are creating a strawman.

The professor never suggested disembodied brains could be reasoned with.

If you would have watched more than 30 seconds of the video, you would have understood that when he said "You are your brain" he was talking about our self-aware consciousness, our ability to reason, which is completely dependent on our LIVING brains, not disembodied dead brains.

I used to be a lot like you and be more of a "nurture" vs. "nature" type of person, thinking the environment played a bigger role than biology in determining our character and our actions.

But the more I learn about biology and nature in general, the less sure I am of that any more. I really do think some people are just hard-wired to be violent, regardless of how nurturing their environment.

Regardless, the whole point of these studies is to try to figure out cognitive approaches towards anti-social behavior, so that regardless of how bad of an environment criminal offenders may find themselves in again, they have the mental tools to cope.

I don't think we'll ever be able to 100% predict recidivism rates, but I do believe we can do a lot better than the current 50% hit-or-miss crapshoot that parole boards currently average.

[bananas]

8. Bill Clinton's brain

hmm, something missing...

[bananas]

10. Rasputin's brain

[Odin2005]

13. Of course we are our brain.

Got any proof of incorporeal souls?