You Be the Judge: The Case of the Glass Eye
A man is on trial for puncturing another man’s eye with a key during a fight outside a Philadelphia bar. The victim is on the stand, testifying, when his prosthetic eye suddenly pops out and falls into his hand. (What the judge decided) For links to CJA posts as soon … Continue reading →
How Many Gun-Related Deaths Has the United States Seen in the Eight Weeks Following the Newtown, Connecticut Shootings?
The answer For links to CJA posts as soon as they go online, as well as Facebook-only content, please “like” us (using the button on the upper right-hand portion of this page). This article, and all articles on this site, are © 2013 by Bill Bickel unless otherwise noted.
Teacher Fired For Calling Her Students ”Future Criminals” on Facebook
Jennifer O’Brien, a New Jersey first grade teacher, has been fired for writing on her Facebook page “I’m not a teacher — I’m a warden for future criminals,” and that her students should take part in a “scared straight” program. She’d intended the posts to be read only by her … Continue reading →
Colorado 7-Year-Old Suspended For Throwing an Imaginary Hand Grenade
“I think that when a child is trying to save the world, I don’t think he should be punished for it” -Mandy Watkins, mother of Colorado second-grader Alex Evans During recess, Alex threw an imaginary hand grenade into a box full of “pretend evil forces.” You’d think school officials would … Continue reading →
Recent studies have revealed what appear to be significant anatomical differences in the brains of adolescent children who scored high on the youth version of the Psychopathy Checklist — an indication that the trait may be innate.
I do love statements like these (where “love” = “makes me want to take judo lessons just so that I can judo-throw the writer”).
Because the human brain is incapable of development or change or being affected in any way by outside stimuli. It is just an inert lump of cells that are one way from birth and nothing can change it.
I wish I had access to my LiveJournal headdesk icon here.
You seem to have developed an unusually violent reaction to a perfectly balanced and well-hedged supposition. The line specifically says “may” and “an indication”, but then you go on to conclude that the writer was saying “nothing can change it” and “the human brain is incapable of development of change”.
And then you say you’d like to judo-chop the writer for this grave offense.
Have you considered trying to get help?
Throw. Not chop.
I don’t want to actually hurt people who assume that the brain is unchangeable. I just want to startle them a little.
I played high school football in the late 70s. We were aware of the extent of danger back then. I wrecked my knee as a freshman and missed my sophomore year, plus a teammate got a concussion. If we knew in high school, I’m certain the NFL players knew too.
This isn’t about injuries like busted knees. This is about the long-term effects of repeated concussions, even seemingly minor ones.
This is new information. Whether or not the NFL should have anticipated it is the issue.
It’s not new, it’s been recognized in the boxing world for decades.
And most of the cases being brought up are from injuries received decades ago.
I’m not saying that the NFL should have no liability, but they HAVE altered their response to head injuries over the years; new helmet designs, higher penalties for helmet on helmet contact, etc.
And you also have to remember the number of times that a player will say, “I’m okay Doc, send me back in.” Several players have admitted to that already.
I know the article is about concussions, which is why I mentioned it in my comment. He dealt with migraines the rest of high school. It wouldn’t surprise me if he is still dealing with them now.
IIRC, you’re a death penalty supporter, Bill. Do you still feel the same way? Would even conclusive proof of an innocent man executed change your mind?
If an innocent man has to rot away in prison for the rest of his life for a crime he didn’t commit, and the mistake is never found, is that really any better?
The issue here is that the court system failed to determine exactly what happened, not how certain crimes are punished.
There are also innocent people who have only been *accused* of pedophilia, and their lives have been completely ruined.
And as for the death penalty, I don’t buy the argument that it costs too much. How much does a gun and 6 bullets cost?
But the mistake HAS been found (allegedly).
If he were still alive, he could be released, as others have been. Which certainly would be better than executing an innocent person.
Define “death penalty supporter,” Pete.
In that the case of Carlos DeLuna shows a travesty of justice and the appalling lack of protection under current law in applying the death penalty, it maters that he was, apparently, not guilty.
In that the death penalty is morally wrong, societally wrong, financially wrong, uncivilized, & unconstitutional, it matters very little that DeLuna was not guilty. Even Carlos Hernandez, the alleged murderer, should not have been killed. Killing is wrong, no matter who does it.
Someone forgot a closing tag somewhere …
a closing [i] tag
“Can a psychopath be identified as early as kindergarten? And then what?”
Well, for a start, the financial sector can start their recruitment campaigns at a younger age.
(That sounds like snark, but several people who have studied psychopathy have mentioned that the financial sector has a disproportionate number of them, particularly at high levels.)
Psychopath or sociopath, Vicar?
Psychopath. (I thought that, too.)
I suspect we’re dealing with people who’ve ”studied” just enough to have a vague idea what they’re talking about, but don’t really grasp the difference between ”psychopath” and ”sociopath.”
Perhaps the fact that there is no difference between psychopathy and sociopathy leads to the difficulty in grasping the difference…