A Social Trust Theory of Criminal Law, Part I

Ours is a society of strangers.  Every day, we are likely to encounter dozens of unfamiliar faces, even if only fleetingly through the windshield of a car. We purchase our life’s necessities from people who are typically no more than bare acquaintances. Through the media, we are constantly exposed to exotic voices and personalities. We are even unlikely to know really well all of our neighbors and coworkers.  What is it they always say about the serial killers?  “He was such a nice, quiet neighbor.”

It sometimes seems a wonder our society does not disintegrate altogether.  After all, it is not an easy or natural thing for strangers to live together harmoniously.  

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Student Reflects on Restorative Justice Program at Green Bay Prison

Student Jillian Dickson-Igl has put together these thoughtful reflections about her experience with the restorative justice program at the Green Bay Correctional Institution.   

Back in October, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI) as a part of the Restorative Justice class that was taught by Professors O’Hear and Schneider. The trip consisted of three days at the prison, two of which I was able to attend, as part of the prison’s Challenges and Possibilities program for inmates. The Challenges and Possibilities program is a thirteen-week program that helps the participants focus on their own personal growth as well as aiding them in realizing the impact of their actions, past and present, on other individuals. At the conclusion of the program is when the three-day restorative justice component comes into play, and this is when community members, lawyers, judges, and survivors of crime come to the prison to spend time with the men in the program.

Going into the experience I was very skeptical as to what was going to happen.  

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Barrock Lecture Explores Collision Between Criminal Law and Neuroscience

Morse“Be of good cheer; everything is going to be all right.” With these words last week, Stephen Morse sought to reassure his audience at Marquette Law School that advances in neuroscience will not ultimately upset traditional understandings of criminal responsibility. Morse, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was in town to deliver Marquette’s annual Barrock Lecture on Criminal Law. A podcast of Morse’s engaging presentation is here.

Neuroscience is increasingly giving us the ability to understand — and even, in the form of colorful MRI images, to see — some of the specific biological processes in the brain that produce thought and action. This suggests the possibility of “my brain made me do it” defenses, especially in cases involving defendants who have demonstrable neurological abnormalities. If a particular aspect of a defendant’s brain can be identified as a “but for” cause of his criminal behavior, then should not that provide an excuse?

Morse argues that this defense proves too much.  

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