The nightmare of ‘pre-crime’
The nightmare of ‘pre-crime’ is already with us
Police can now act against people who have done nothing
Scientific and technological advances are being made elsewhere. In February neuroscientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany announced a technique using high-resolution brain scans that allows them to look inside a person’s brain and read their intentions. The new procedure was the culmination of a series of recent studies which demonstrate that certain brain patterns can be linked to telling lies and triggering violent and racist behaviour. The problem here is that were such a process to become part of the judicial system, any finding that scientifically ‘proved’ you were going to commit a crime would be irrefutable: there would be no possible way of proving that you weren’t going to commit a felony. Pre-crime negates the notion of free will.
The validity now accredited to ‘pre-crime’ represents a broader cultural shift, according to the criminologist Lucia Zedner. In a paper that appeared in the journal Theoretical Criminology in July, she stated: ‘We are on the cusp of a shift from a post- to a pre-crime society, a society in which the possibility of forestalling risks competes with and even takes precedence over responding to wrongs done.’ Indeed, in the sphere of international law, we may see the war in Iraq as inspired by the notion of pre-crime: Saddam, it was said, ‘was about to attack us’ in 45 minutes. That decision was made using discredited information, and should act as a warning to those who believe there ever can be such a thing as pre-crime.
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Adrian Peirson
December 30th, 2007 9:41pmOK, sow how come MI5 can't get rid of the 2000 terrorists that are supposed to be at liberty. Because they don't exist, it is a scare story designed purely to take away OURs and our childrens future liberty. MI5 Are lying