Loading...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
Similar Documents
Neuroscience and Criminal Law: Have We Been Getting It Wrong for Centuries and Where Do We Go from Here?
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Bennett, Elizabeth |
| Copyright Year | 2016 |
| Abstract | Moral responsibility is the foundation of criminal law. Will the rapid developments in neuroscience and brain imaging crack that foundation—or, perhaps, shatter it completely? Although many scholars have opined on the subject, as far as I have discovered, few come from a front-line perspective. The concept of English (now Anglo-American) criminal law has evolved slowly but surely over the past one thousand years. It has responded, in part, to knowledge of the human condition and, in part, to power struggles between church and state.1 In the Anglo-Saxon period, society generally considered bad conduct as a tort—including conduct that society now considers as criminal, such as homicide.2 The remedy often was compensatory, although blood feuds between families or tribes also resulted.3 While the Roman tradition of the Law of the Twelve Tables certainly speaks to intent as opposed to negligence, it generally treats bad conduct as torts.4 As society matured, criminal conduct became more of a concern to society as a whole, as opposed to only private individuals. The King’s Courts developed, and by the twelfth century, in the time of Henry II, crimes of homicide, mayhem, robbery, arson, and rape were under their jurisdiction.5 The compensatory remedy for these crimes ended, and punishment emerged as a new remedy for criminal conduct.6 By the thirteenth century, society was considering the concept of “actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea” (meaning “an act does not make one |
| Starting Page | 437 |
| Ending Page | 437 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 85 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://fordhamlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Bennett_November-1.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5237&context=flr |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5237&context=flr&httpsredir=1&referer= |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
