John Seabrook of the New Yorker has this in-depth article about Dr. Kent Kiehl at the University of New Mexico titled Suffering Souls. As the article details, Dr. Kiehl is the leading expert in the field of brain imaging and psychopathy. As part of his work with the Mind Research Network, Dr. Kiehl is using a portable fMRI machine to image hundreds of prison inmates and juvenile delinquents. The work is impressive and illuminating, but prone to Overclaim Syndrome as is evident near the end of the article:

Psychopathy also raises fundamental issues about justice. At the core of our judicial system is the assumption that someone who appears sane is culpable for his actions. (In the U.S., there is no insanity defense for psychopaths.) As Decety, of the University of Chicago, put it to me, “We still basically work out of a Biblical system of punishment—we don’t consider, in most cases, to what extent the offender’s actions were intentional or unintentional. But what neuroscience is showing us is that a great many crimes are committed out of compulsion—the offenders couldn’t help it. Once that is clear, and science proves it, what will the justice system do?” Joseph Newman told me, “I go around and give speeches to the staff in prisons, saying the inmates are not just assholes, and afterwards the guards come up and say, ‘Enjoyed your talk, Doc, but are you saying these guys aren’t responsible for their crimes?’ ”

Besides the fact that mens rea is very much part of American criminal law, there exist at least two problems with this sort of conclusion. First, despite the weight of neuroscience showing abnormalities in the brains of psychopaths, the theory that psychopaths have uncontrollable impulses remains unproven. This is no small matter as controllable impulses are writ large in human nature. Second, what matters for the law is not whether the brain is compromised but whether such impairments are so substantial that they deprive one of the ability to know their behavior was wrongful at the time of the alleged crime. Predisposition for behavior - which is what the hard line biological psychopathy crowd is asserting - is not sufficient to reduce culpability - and for good reason. We are all predisposed genetically towards behaviors. And some people, unfortunately, suffer worse biological deficits than others. But legal culpability is grounded in a social heritage which sets the exculpating bar high under the assumption that everyone brings liabilities to the responsibility table. Our society has determined that outside severe deficits in rationality, one is expected to conform their behavior according to the law irrespective of their biological imperfections.

Hat tip: Furious Seasons