Law Commons^™

Behavioral Genetics And Crime, In Context, Owen D. Jones

Owen Jones

This Article provides an introduction to some of the key issues at the intersection of behavioral genetics and crime.

It provides, among other things, an overview of the emerging points of consensus, scientifically, on what behavioral genetics can and cannot tell us about criminal behavior. It also discusses a variety of important implications (as well as complexities) of attempting to use insights of behavioral genetics in legal contexts.

Genetic Technology And Its Impact On Culpability For Criminal Actions , Marcia Johnson

Marcia A Johnson

This article addresses only one issue, one which our judicial system ultimately must address: the criminal responsibility one will bear for committing a crime when the actions are determined by the actor's genetic make-up. Part I of the article traces the roots of genetic research from Darwinism to eugenics and Nazi racial purity theories. Part II reviews theories and studies which support the concept of genetic influence on social, particularly criminal, behavior. Part III considers the impact of the genetic revolution on our criminal justice system with special emphasis on the effect on our system's fundamental concept of free will. …

Neuroscience And The Future Of Personhood And Responsibility, Stephen J. Morse

All Faculty Scholarship

This is a chapter in a book, Constitution 3.0: Freedom and Technological Change, edited by Jeffrey Rosen and Benjamin Wittes and published by Brookings. It considers whether likely advances in neuroscience will fundamentally alter our conceptions of human agency, of what it means to be a person, and of responsibility for action. I argue that neuroscience poses no such radical threat now and in the immediate future and it is unlikely ever to pose such a threat unless it or other sciences decisively resolve the mind-body problem. I suggest that until that happens, neuroscience might contribute to the reform of …

What Real-World Criminal Cases Tell Us About Genetics Evidence, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

This Article, which is part of a symposium on "Law and Ethics at the Frontier of Genetic Technology," examines an unprecedented experimental study published in Science. The Science study indicated that psychopathic criminal offenders were more likely to receive lighter sentences if a judge was aware of genetic and neurobiological explanations for the offender’s psychopathy. This Article contends that the study’s conclusions derive from substantial flaws in the study’s design and methodology. The hypothetical case upon which the study is based captures just one narrow and unrepresentative component of how genetic and neurobiological information operates, and the study suffers from …

Bad Nature, Bad Nurture, And Testimony Regarding Maoa And Slc6a4 Genotyping In Murder Trials, Nita A. Farahany, William Bernet, Cindy L. Vnencak-Jones, Stephen A. Montgomery

Faculty Scholarship

Recent research—in which subjects were studied longitudinally from childhood until adulthood—has started to clarify how a child’s environment and genetic makeup interact to create a violent adolescent or adult. For example, male subjects who were born with a particular allele of the monoamine oxidase A gene and also were maltreated as children had a much greater likelihood of manifesting violent antisocial behavior as adolescents and adults. Also, individuals who were born with particular alleles of the serotonin transporter gene and also experienced multiple stressful life events were more likely to manifest serious depression and suicidality. This research raises the question …

Behavioral Genetics And Crime, In Context, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article provides an introduction to some of the key issues at the intersection of behavioral genetics and crime.

It provides, among other things, an overview of the emerging points of consensus, scientifically, on what behavioral genetics can and cannot tell us about criminal behavior. It also discusses a variety of important implications (as well as complexities) of attempting to use insights of behavioral genetics in legal contexts.

Behavioural Genetics In Criminal Cases: Past, Present And Future, Nita A. Farahany, William Bernet

Faculty Scholarship

Researchers studying human behavioral genetics have made significant scientific progress in enhancing our understanding of the relative contributions of genetics and the environment in observed variations in human behavior. Quickly outpacing the advances in the science are its applications in the criminal justice system. Already, human behavioral genetics research has been introduced in the U.S. criminal justice system, and its use will only become more prevalent. This essay discusses the recent historical use of behavioral genetics in criminal cases, recent advances in two gene variants of particular interest in the criminal law, MAOA and SLC6A4, the recent expert testimony on …

Genetic Technology And Its Impact On Culpability For Criminal Actions , Marcia Johnson

Cleveland State Law Review

This article addresses only one issue, one which our judicial system ultimately must address: the criminal responsibility one will bear for committing a crime when the actions are determined by the actor's genetic make-up. Part I of the article traces the roots of genetic research from Darwinism to eugenics and Nazi racial purity theories. Part II reviews theories and studies which support the concept of genetic influence on social, particularly criminal, behavior. Part III considers the impact of the genetic revolution on our criminal justice system with special emphasis on the effect on our system's fundamental concept of free will. …

The Criminal Law Implications Of The Human Genome Project: Reimagining A Genetically Oriented Criminal Justice System, Steven I. Friedland

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Human Biology And Criminal Responsibility: Free Will Of Free Ride ?, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

This Comment presents three major arguments concerning biological deficiency defenses, using, respectively, a critique of biosocial science research, a statistical model of biological and sociological data, and an examination of theories and philosophies on causation and behavior. First, this Comment argues that there should be no defense to mitigate criminal responsibility except in the less that one percent of cases eligible for the insanity defense. Second, this Comment argues that social science research has not successfully demonstrated sufficiently strong links between biological factors and criminal behavior to warrant major consideration in determining criminal responsibility. Third, this Comment demonstrates that no …

Born To Crime: The Genetic Causes Of Criminal Behavior, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Born to Crime: The Genetic Causes of Criminal Behavior by Lawrence Taylor