The Impact of Behavioral Sciences on Criminal Law

The Impact of Behavioral Genetics on Criminal Law is essential reading for anyone interested in the ongoing genomics and neuroscience revolution and its implications for criminal law. Building in part on a recent multi-disciplinary conference, this collection of essays offers a comprehensive discussion of the ramifications of behavioral sciences in criminal cases and brings together the leading behavioral geneticists, neuroscientists, philosophers, policymakers, and legal scholars to address the multi-faceted concerns at issue. Together, the essays in this volume discuss the scientific progress and limitations in behavioral science research relating to criminal conduct, and the ethical concerns and practical implications of introducing behavioral science evidence into criminal cases. Included is a detailed discussion of criminal cases in which biological and neurological predisposition testimony has been introduced, the implications for criminal responsibility and punishment, the consequences for DNA databank research, new directions in predictions of future dangerousness, and the concerns for ethnic and racial minorities arising from this research.
"Recent developments in behavioral genetics have tremendous potential for understanding crime; yet they also create great dangers of abuse in criminal trials as well as policies. These profound and important issues are discussed in depth from various disciplinary perspectives by the prominent and learned contributors to this well-organized and accessible volume. It should be read by anyone interested in where our legal system is headed."
--Walter Sinnott-Armstrong,
Dartmouth College, Co-director, MacArthur Law and Neuroscience Project

Introduction Nita A. Farahany; PART I: THE SCIENCE OF CRIMINAL CONDUCT; Behavioral Genetics: The Science of Antisocial Behavior Laura A. Baker, Serena Bezdjian, and Adrian Raine; Neuroscience: Emerging Science on the Criminal Mind Abigail Bird, Michael Gazzaniga, Dean Mobbs, Martha Farah; Misinformation, Misrepresentation, and Misuse of Human Behavioral Genetics Research Jonathan Kaplan; PART II: CONSIDERING THE BROADER CONTEXT; Behavioral Genetics and Crime, in Context Owen D. Jones; Considering Convergence: A Policy Dialogue about Behavioral Genetics, Neuroscience, and Law Brent Garland and Mark S. Frankel; PART III: REVISITING CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY; To Know the Criminal from the Crime Nita A. Farahany and James E. Coleman, Jr; Addiction, Genetics, Neuroscience, and Criminal Responsibility Stephen J. Morse; PART IV: IMPLICATIONS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND SOCIETY; Revisiting the Legal Link between Genetics and Crime Deborah W. Denno; MAOA and SLC6A4: Recent Testimony for the Defense and Prosecution William Bernet; Behavioral Genetics Research and Criminal DNA Databases D.H. Kaye; Schiriro v. Landrigan: Considering Biological vs. Environmental Factors in Sentencing Nita A. Farahany and Kenneth Kendler; Future Dangerousness: Is there a Blueprint for Violence? Erica Beecher-Monas and Edgar Garcia-Rill; Behavioral Genetics, Homosexuality and Criminal Statues Lisa Keene; The Scarlet Gene: Behavioral Genetics, Criminal Law, and Racial and Ethnic Stigma