Neuroscience and criminal culpability

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"If brain scans are to play a scientifically legitimate role in determining criminal responsibility of a defendant or in reducing a defendant’s sentence, they need to be able to assist us in answering legal questions. That means, at bottom, that these scans must be amenable to being deciphered in such a way that they bear narrowly on potentially excusing or mitigating mental states, such as damaged capacity for reason or an impaired ability to form intent or exert self-control

 Dr. Sally Satel and Prof. Scott O. Lilienfeld (guest-blogging)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/05/07/the-immature-teen-brain-defense-and-the-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-trial/

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