Busted on Social Media - Police Video

Busted on Social Media

Gang busted on Social Media. According to police: The gangs were taunting on Facebook, bragging about shootings online. The gangs allegedly used social media to intimidate witnesses and others, calling them snitches and stating that if they cooperated with law enforcement  they would be "taken care of." Possible 25 year penalties for the 25 that were busted using social media. Social media led to their demise, as cops monitored and befriended the suspects.

What does the Criminal Mind look like?

AS a practicing lawyer, I like watching television and movies about lawyers about as much as you would like watching . . . a show about your day at work. Before you start to think that your televised workday is so cool, let me quickly throw some ice on that happy thought: Most of what everyone would see about your day at work would be fake, overly glamorized, and just plain wrong. 

For me, this happens whenever I turn on the news and *Surprise!* lawyers and/or crime is the topic. The dramas are wrong, the news is wrong, and it all is . . . wrong, wrong, wrong!

One of my favorite areas of crime and the law involves THE Criminal Mind (there is only one, apparently). Most of the time, these types of shows involve well-spoken psychobabblists deconstructing the (THE) Criminal Mind of someone who did something terrible. This equation degenerates into Law + Crime + Evil + Person = Crap. 

The saddest aspect of all of this nonsense is not the plight of the victim of this episode of made for media victimization. Rather, it is how the public as a whole is victimized by nonsensical thinking, criminal justice system psychobabble and the failure to solve the problem of crime itself. As a result, more and more people will be victimized by the failure of the criminal justice system to actually solve the problem of crime, not just this week's CSI drama.

So let's actually look, yes, look at a healthy brain and that "Criminal Mind."

First, let's look at a SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) scan of a healthy brain (bottom to top view):
 

Courtesty of the Amen Clinics, this is what a human brain looks like in a healthy, young adult. Notice how smooth it is compared to the next image:

These two images are from the perspective of looking from the bottom to the top, and are imaging scans of the surface only. However, a trained psychiatrist can use these scans in conjunction with other tools (patient history, neuropsychological testing and such) in order to make a more accurate psychiatric diagnosis.

Now, I am no medical doctor, but even a lay person can tell that the two images are different. One is healthy, one is not so healthy. Beyond that I cannot tell you much about these scans, except for this: Brain = Behavior.

This equation explains why people break the law - over and over again. People with brain dysfunction act . . . dysfunctional. Most "repeat offenders" don't think they are Jesus, they aren't controlled by microscopic space aliens and they do not hear voices. Some do, with tragic results. 

Thus the solution to the problem of crime is a matter of mental health. Up until the advent of neuroimaging, we could not see a living brain any more than you could look at someone's broken arm, squint your eyes and see the actual bone. Now, trained professionals can actually see the organ responsible for human behavior, make a more accurate diagnsosis, and prescribe a personalized treatment program based on that person's individual needs.

Of course, this is not nearly as much fun as vengence, but I submit that it makes more sense diagnose and treat the next Andrea Yates before she kills her children in a bathtub or someone dies in a domestic dispute.

Respectfully submitted,

Stephen G. Cobb

 

The Smoking Gun

For several years now, I have been asserting that there is a definitive link between mental illness and crime. To recap, repeat offender crime is caused by one of two factors:

1) A small number of repeat offenders have a personality disorder. Think of this as a willful desire to break the law due to bad character.

2) A large number of repeat offenders have mental illnesses that do not qualify for an insanity defense under Florida law, yet affect their behavior and cause criminal behavior.

This second view is very controversial: If criminals are simply “bad characters,” it would justify increasingly harsh punishment. Incarceration would then serve the dual purposes of protection of the public and retribution However, if some criminal are bad characters and others are not, we have a problem: Harsh punishments will not deter the mentally ill, and retribution becomes and act of cruelty.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report published in September of 2006 exposes the level of cruelty - and ignorance – prevalent in our society. While most of the public thinks that harsher punishment is the solution to the social problem of crime – to “teach them a lesson” and other such nonsense, the reality is that we are behaving like prisoners who hurt others without remorse: Our society is quite bluntly put, cruel.

• 45% of federal prisoners have mental health problems.
• 56% of state prisoners have mental health problems.
• 64% of local jail inmates have mental health problems.

This stunning document was produced by the United States government’s own Bureau of Justice, not some “bleeding heart” group. They used professionally accepted definitions and standards:

“Symptoms of a mental disorder were based on criteria specified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV).” - Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, page 1, September 2006.

One final thought: The incidence of mental illness was probably understated because many facilities and many inmates refused to participate.

Cashing in on Crime: The Dark Ages of Criminal Law, Part I

Long ago, during the middle ages, something was against the law simply because the king said so. There were no legislatures, no courts as we understand them today, and no check or balance of any kind. Law created by the Divine Right of Kings – God’s chosen representatives who could make up any law at will. Thus, in France, when a peasant whistled appreciatively at a young French queen, the king had the man imprisoned for life on the spot. This arbitrary system of “justice” was not very popular, and the problem was apparent to the intellectuals of the day: The system of governance was unfair and irrational.

Over the centuries, intellectuals began to postulate a new system of criminal justice as part of a new system of government. They argued that law should be created by group of elected leaders who would represent will of “the people.” They believed a rational group of men could create a rational system of government. Rational law could then be created by a rational representative government. Rational punishment would only occur after a rational legal proceeding with rational checks and balances to ensure the fairness of true justice. Rational people would not want violate laws they had a stake in creating. Some people would break the law, they reasoned, but policing and punishment would round out a fair system

The exact form of government varied – a parliamentary system in Great Britain, a republic in America – but the underlying theories were essentially the same: A democratic republic would produce a rational, fair system of justice.

Over time, the debate has shifted. The founders of our nation are long dead. Our memory of governmental legal abuse is gone. Today, our beliefs are influenced by the media, not a bad memory from the past. Instead of worrying over whether the government can force us to house troops in our homes and horses in our barns, we are whipped into a frenzy over whether the system is fair to the victims.

When you hear that someone has burned crying puppy to death, strangled a pregnant mother, or sodomized a little boy, doesn’t it make you angry? Of course, it does. The media, the politicians and the pressure groups are counting on it – angry people act without thinking. And the politicians, pressure groups and the media don’t ever want you to think, they want you to do something. They want your vote, your time, and your money.

Especially your money.

Cashing in on Crime: Politicians, Pressure Groups and the Media

Each day, you pay about $46.10 for each person incarcerated in a jail or prison. Most of these inmates will be released - and re-arrested.

For those of us who work in the criminal justice system every day, it is reasonably foreseeable that they will violate the law in specific patterns. More importantly, it is actually possible to break the cycle of dysfunctional behavior in about 80 percent of all criminal cases. But this isn’t happening. Instead, your tax dollars are being set on fire by a government that just doesn’t get it. People are being hurt, property is destroyed, and the broken system of criminal justice continues to break the heart of many mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters each and every day.

Here is how the game is played.

Someone gets hurt by a criminal act. Next, the media sensationalizes the case for ratings. In response, the public is angered and afraid. A political pressure group is formed. A politician sees an opportunity, so yet another “get tough on crime” bill is introduced. Other politicians jump on the bandwagon, and a bad law is passed. The result? The problem of crime remains unsolved.

Actually solving the problem of crime is unthinkable to the players in the system. Let’s review the impact of actually solving the problem of crime on the players in the system.
The Media: True crime is one of the most popular news subjects for print, internet, television and radio media. If the problem of crime were to be solved, then the media would lose customers and that means losing money. Watch your local news tonight – it will probably start with the crime report.

The Pressure Groups: Can you imagine MADD’s paid political and administrative operatives disbanding because the problem of driving under the influence was solved? MADD brings in millions of dollars each year, and much of this money goes to pay very good salaries. About 19 cents for every dollar raised goes to for charitable works.

The Politicians: Entrepreneurs exist to make money. Politicians exist to get re-elected. When it is time to place an Intoxalock on a convicted driver’s vehicle, the profit potential for both is staggering. For the entrepreneurs (think ‘donors to you political campaign’), consider this passage:

“In the state of Wisconsin, service centers are getting between $75 and $150 for install, about $20/month to exchange the unit, and $50 to $100 for removal of the unit. That $20/month is just unplugging the thing, shipping it to the leasing company, and plugging in a new one that is supplied by the leasing company. Most states require the user to have this installed for more than one-year on their vehicle. Imagine the potential if you have many people in your area requiring these units!” Click here for the full article.

There is a recurring theme here. Money. Crime is a big business. Crime is a safe business, too. Economy booming? Crime is a great way to make money. Economy crashing? Crime is recession proof, and actually more profitable.

In my next article, we will answer a critical question: How did we end up with this poor performing legal system?