Neurolaw

Posted by Osagie K. Obasogie March 13, 2007
Biopolitical Times
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Check out Jeffrey Rosen's piece in Sunday's New York Times on neuroscience's possible legal impacts. Here's an excerpt:

"Proponents of neurolaw say that neuroscientific evidence will have a large impact not only on questions of guilt and punishment but also on the detection of lies and hidden bias, and on the prediction of future criminal behavior. At the same time, skeptics fear that the use of brain-scanning technology as a kind of super mind-reading device will threaten our privacy and mental freedom, leading some to call for the legal system to respond with a new concept of 'cognitive liberty.' [Also to consider,] should courts be in the business of deciding when to mitigate someone's criminal responsibility because his brain functions improperly, whether because of age, in-born defects or trauma? As we learn more about criminals' brains, will we have to redefine our most basic ideas of justice?"

As Rosen hinted at in a previous New York Times Magazine article, human biotechnologies' potential to reshape legal landscapes is also noteworthy.