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Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? Neuroimaging in the Courtroom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2021

Joseph H. Baskin ,
Judith G. Edersheim  and
Bruce H. Price
Joseph H. Baskin
Affiliation:
Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Judith G. Edersheim
Affiliation:
Dept. of Psychiatry, Law & Psychiatry Service, Massachusetts General Hospital
Bruce H. Price
Affiliation:
Dept. of Neurology, McLean Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital
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Extract

Neuroimaging has advanced our understanding of how the living brain operates, providing structural and functional images of both healthy and diseased brains. This technology pervades today's society, particularly affecting the legal arena. Some judges argue that scientific evidence, which offers insight into the offender's mental state, is crucial because it is the only means of determining whether an offender's punishment is proportional to his crime. Other judges argue that “objective” evidence does not “wholly determine the controversy,” and focus instead on their duty as gatekeepers to independently evaluate scientific evidence. If courts use brain images to make their culpability determinations more objective and sound, these images must meet pertinent legal standards and shed light on medical conditions. For neuroimaging to meet these legal and medical standards with scientific integrity, scientists must convincingly correlate the dynamic images in a person's brain with the way the person is thinking or acting at that moment.

Type
Article
Information
American Journal of Law & Medicine , Volume 33 , Issue 2-3 , June 2007 , pp. 239 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics and Boston University 2007

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