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Law, Science, And The Injured Mind, Govind Persad

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Even while we widely recognize legal liability for physical injury, we frequently discount mental, emotional, and psychological injury. We disfavor tort liability for emotional distress; we prohibit prisoners from suing for purely psychological injuries; and we tax the damages victims of emotional injury receive even while leaving damages for physical injury untaxed. This Article argues that neuroscientific, psychological, and technological advances challenge our traditional ideas about the set of injuries that are possible and that merit legal redress. The Article goes on to contend that, while these advances challenge our traditional ideas, they do not inevitably overturn traditional distinctions within …