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I agree that's definitely worth consideration. I am nowhere close to being an expert on these things but I would have thought that most of the big technological

I agree that's definitely worth consideration. I am nowhere close to being an expert on these things but I would have thought that most of the big technological leaps in the justice system are probably behind us. Fingerprinting, DNA matching, fibre analysis, ballistics... All of these things are pretty well established now. I agree that a lot of cases got turned on their head when DNA matching became available, but what technologies do you envision providing the same sort of disruption in the future?

yan 17y ago
It doesn't always have to pivot on technology -- there will always be overzealous DA's and corrupt judges. Once again, I'm not for or against capital punishment, nor have I done sufficient research to form an opinion, but I can just imagine the Kafkaesque hell an innocent man or woman can be put through to be put on death row.
- aarongough 17y ago
  Yeah, I can sympathize with that. I definitely would not want to be in that situation. I'm sure there's a workable compromise in there somewhere. I definitely think that most countries need to think about the crimes that they imprison people for. Imprisonment is super expensive partly because it's used so often. If only serious criminals went to prison, the social impact of imprisoning someone would be much greater and the overall cost would be lower...
ShardPhoenix 17y ago
Brain-scanning based lie detectors with high accuracy.
- aarongough 17y ago
  Nice one! Now that you mention it I remember seeing an article about FMRI being used in that role a while ago. Excellent example.
- hugh_ 17y ago
  Even if we did develop a lie detector with high accuracy, how would we know? There's good reason to believe that lie detectors might work much better in the laboratory, on test subjects telling inconsequential lies to experimenters and knowing they'll go home, than on real suspected criminals telling vitally important lies (or truths) for life-or-death stakes.

yan 17y ago

It doesn't always have to pivot on technology -- there will always be overzealous DA's and corrupt judges. Once again, I'm not for or against capital punishment, nor have I done sufficient research to form an opinion, but I can just imagine the Kafkaesque hell an innocent man or woman can be put through to be put on death row.

aarongough 17y ago
Yeah, I can sympathize with that. I definitely would not want to be in that situation. I'm sure there's a workable compromise in there somewhere. I definitely think that most countries need to think about the crimes that they imprison people for. Imprisonment is super expensive partly because it's used so often. If only serious criminals went to prison, the social impact of imprisoning someone would be much greater and the overall cost would be lower...

ShardPhoenix 17y ago

Brain-scanning based lie detectors with high accuracy.

aarongough 17y ago
Nice one! Now that you mention it I remember seeing an article about FMRI being used in that role a while ago. Excellent example.
hugh_ 17y ago
Even if we did develop a lie detector with high accuracy, how would we know? There's good reason to believe that lie detectors might work much better in the laboratory, on test subjects telling inconsequential lies to experimenters and knowing they'll go home, than on real suspected criminals telling vitally important lies (or truths) for life-or-death stakes.