From: Ronn!Blankenship <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Scouted: Surgery on Brain Tumor 'cures' pedophile Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 14:17:33 -0500
At 12:04 PM 7/28/03 -0400, Jon Gabriel wrote:http://www.salon.com/mwt/wire/2003/07/28/pedophile/index.html
Excerpt:
"The man had an egg-sized brain tumor pressing on the right frontal lobe. When surgeons removed it, the lewd behavior and pedophilia faded away. Exactly why, the surgeons cannot quite explain. "It's possible the tumor released some pre-existing urges," Burns said. "But that's a tough debate, we just don't know."
The outcome raises questions not only about how tumors alter brain function, but also how they can influence behavior and judgment.
Daniel T. Tranel, a University of Iowa neurology researcher, said he has seen people with brain tumors lie, damage property, and in extremely rare cases, commit murder. "The individual simply loses the ability to control impulses or anticipate the consequences of choices," Tranel said.
Dr. Stuart C. Yudofsky, a psychiatrist at the Baylor College of Medicine who specializes in behavioral changes associated with brain disorders, also has seen the way brain tumors can bend a person's behavior. "This tells us something about being human, doesn't it?" Yudofsky said. If one's actions are governed by how well the brain is working, "does it mean we have less free will than we think?"
It's a question with vast implications in the criminal justice system.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that executing mentally retarded murderers is unconstitutionally cruel because of their diminished ability to reason and control their urges"
So what do we do to protect society from those who commit heinous crimes where either (1) no organic problem can be found, (2) an organic problem is found, but we don't know how to treat it, or (3) an organic problem is found and treated, but the behavior does not change?
Well, in the case of pedophiles, that would be:
1) Firing Squad 2) Firing Squad 3) Castration, then Firing Squad
Yes, I'm serious. I think they're repulsive.
I think we agree on that.
To answer your question in a different way, I suppose the solution may just be to give people a test to see if they have a tumor that, if removed, may cure them. If they don't, prosecute.
If no other medical condition has been found to conclusively cause aberrant behavior of this type then the theory that one might is probably legally irrelevant.
Here's the COW, as I see it:
In many jurisdictions, one can be found "not guilty due to mental defect or disease" (or words to that effect), i.e., what is often referred to as the "insanity defense." Let's suppose a pedophile, or a murderer, or a <insert heinous crime of your choice here> is found to have a brain tumor (or other clearly diagnosable organic brain dysfunction). Do we:
(a) declare him "not guilty" due to his illness and let him go because legally he is not guilty of anything?
(b) require that he either serve his full time in prison or submit to treatment for the illness, and if the illness cannot be treated or treatment does not change his behavior, then put him in prison to serve his full sentence or commit him to a secure mental institution for at least the same amount of time, or until such time as he does respond to treatment? (BTW, how do you tell for sure if a pedophile has really been cured except by letting him out and observing that he does not re-offend?)
(c) other (specify).
While I would be inclined toward something like (b) (IANAL so don't yell at me if I have put some of it incorrectly), I expect that many will say either (1) "He's been found ‘not guilty’, so legally he should be free to go," or (2) "Mentally ill people should not be imprisoned like common criminals," or something of that sort. Do we need to change the laws to allow for a verdict of "guilty but insane" which would require the person to be confined for the protection of society until he is no longer a danger and receive treatment if any is available? In the latter case, do we make these people guinea pigs for experimental "treatments" which may or may not cure their problem (although there certainly are "treatments" which will cause them to no longer be a danger to society: a radical prefrontal lobotomy, frex, though the result of such an extreme "treatment" may well be that they will have to be institutionalized for the rest of their lives because they are no longer able to function well enough to care for themselves), or what?
Jon ROU Insert Disclaimer Here
See below.
-- Ronn! :)
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