Should a convicted murderer be given a lighter sentence if a brain scan suggests he can’t tell right from wrong? Courts are increasingly confronting such questions as the use of MRIs as evidence becomes more common. We discuss the intersection of brain science and the law.
Brain Science in the Courts
![](https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/43/2016/04/CfakepathMRIBrainScan.jpg)
(Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty)
Guests:
Nita Farahany, visiting professor in human rights at Stanford Law, associate professor of law and philosophy at Vanderbilt University and a member of the Presidential Commission on the Study of Bioethical Issues
Ken Murray, assistant federal public defender in Phoenix, AZ
Owen Jones, professor of law and professor of biology at Vanderbilt University and director of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience
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