Ceres
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Via: India's Judges Overrule Scientists on 'Guilty Brain' Tech
I just read about an interesting development within India's court system. Despite warnings from a number of neuroscientists, India is now allowing brain electrical oscillation signature (BEOS) profiling to be used as evidence in the courtroom.
From what I understand, BEOS profiling monitors a suspect's brain images to see if the suspect remembers details of the crime in question.
In a recent murder case a few months ago, a judge accepted as evidence the results of a BEOS test and the suspect was sentenced to life imprisonment. The judge explicitly cited the scan as being proof that the suspect's brain held "experiential knowledge" about the crime that only the killer could posses.
I totally agree with the statement below by Henry Greely, which was cited in a recent article by the International Herald Tribune: India's use of brain scans in courts dismays critics
I just read about an interesting development within India's court system. Despite warnings from a number of neuroscientists, India is now allowing brain electrical oscillation signature (BEOS) profiling to be used as evidence in the courtroom.
From what I understand, BEOS profiling monitors a suspect's brain images to see if the suspect remembers details of the crime in question.
Leading North American neuroscientists call its use "'fascinating,' 'ridiculous,' 'chilling' and 'unconscionable'" — and Indian scientists agree.
In a recent murder case a few months ago, a judge accepted as evidence the results of a BEOS test and the suspect was sentenced to life imprisonment. The judge explicitly cited the scan as being proof that the suspect's brain held "experiential knowledge" about the crime that only the killer could posses.
From a distance, the case's details are unclear. Prosecutors provided evidence other than BEOS, and Sharma insists on her innocence. But one detail is quite clear: India's courtroom use of brain-scanning technology has outpaced the science behind it.
I totally agree with the statement below by Henry Greely, which was cited in a recent article by the International Herald Tribune: India's use of brain scans in courts dismays critics
"I find this both interesting and disturbing," Henry Greely, a bioethicist at Stanford Law School, said of the Indian verdict. "We keep looking for a magic, technological solution to lie detection. Maybe we'll have it someday, but we need to demand the highest standards of proof before we ruin people's lives based on its application."
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