Fmri Scans

Fmri Scans

  • Submitted By: yugao8
  • Date Submitted: 11/25/2008 3:50 PM
  • Category: Social Issues
  • Words: 1813
  • Page: 8
  • Views: 458

In 1990, when he was charged with the murder of Myron Hailey in Fayetteville, NC, Lamont McKoy turned down a plea deal that would have had him out of jail in seven months. He knew he was innocent, and he believed a jury would see that. He was wrong. With only speculation and innuendo as evidence, the state convinced a jury of Lamont's guilt. He has been in prison ever since. Now he's hoping the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence can help him clear his name and gain his freedom (http://truthinjustice.org/lamont-mckoy.htm).
It is the job of the Defense Attorney to protect the innocent. However, when the distinction between truths and lies are not so clear, we must find a superior way to distinguish between them. Many people understand this and are working on a solution. Joel Huizenga, CEO of No Lie MRI believes he has achieved such a feat. He claims that fMRI scans can tell the difference between lies and truths up to 90% of the time, or else they will not sell it (Talbot 52). 90% seems exceptional, until we do some number crunching. There are about twenty million criminal cases filed in the US every year. About several million of these cases have high stakes, and if 10% or more times, somebody is wrongly convicted, this would be several hundred thousand people imprisoned long-term for something they didn’t do (Talbot, 52). Therefore, using neuroscience technology will not only be unethical and ineffective but it will also hinder the balance of justice and individual freedom of America.
In a country based on justice and freedom, fair trials are expected within our court systems. However, humans automatically encompass bias, therefore, is it better if we use neuroscience technology, such as the fMRI machine, in our court rooms? fMRI scan is a novel and significant facet of neuroscience today, but as the evidence suggests, it fails at eliminating bias and is practically useless in the courtrooms. With fMRI scanning being a new technology, most people...

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