Law Commons^™

Traumatic Brain Injury And A Divergence Between Moral And Criminal Responsibility, Paul J. Litton

Faculty Publications

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), particularly in severe cases, can have such extraordinary effects on one's psychological capacities that it may be relevant to many kinds of legal claims in criminal proceedings. The focus of this essay is on claims related to an agent's status as a responsible agent. In other words, this essay will discuss the relationship between traumatic brain injury and claims that an individual does not have the capacities required to be fairly held accountable for wrongful actions. The law may hold most adults fully responsible for their crimes, but it may not hold responsible young children and …