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

 

A Special Note To Florida Criminal Defense Lawyers

This is a departure from my normal material due to the new conflict case system Florida has adopted. There are numerous posts elsewhere about how this will hurt indigent people charged with crimes, so I will not dwell on this important aspect. Instead, we will focus on that subject most lawyers hate: Law office economics.

Florida’s conflict case system was drastically altered to make it more “cost effective.” Many Florida criminal defense lawyers are freaking out because they rely on the conflict system for much of their income. There is now less conflict business at lower rates. Here is how smart lawyers will survive the new system:

1. Raise your fees. A “fee for any budget” price war will cause legal fees to be driven lower and lower – among lower priced criminal defense lawyers, not the best lawyers. Service will immediately decline, and your clients will be the ones who suffer most. FANTASY - "The legal fee doesn't affect the quality of legal service." REALITY - The legal fee directly affects the quality of criminal defense legal service.
2. Get off of the conflict list. The new rates pay less than minimum wage. Taking a case under this new system is tantamount to admitting 3.850 IAC. FANTASY - "The new system will be cost effective." REALITY - Taking cases for less than minimum wage is a 3.850 waiting to happen.
3. Raise your fees. My minimum fee is $5,000.00 – plus costs – for any criminal case, even a misdemeanor. Raising your fees may seem counter intuitive, as there will be more lawyers competing for private practice clients. However, raising your fees will actually work. Remember, your banker will repossess your house and your vehicle, but not your kids. You can’t help your clients if you can’t financially help yourself. FANTASY - "No one can afford high legal fees." REALITY - Some can, those are the ones you want as clients. If you and your secretary give up your salary and benefits, you can provide free legal service - and your clients will get what they pay for.
4. Get Board Certified or get out. In the criminal defense private market, you are either a specialist, or you are competing against one. FANTASY - "I don't need board certification because I am just as good." REALITY - You will get kille din the marketplace unless you are extremely savvy.
5. Raise your fees. Your time spent defending a client’s liberty will never be returned to you at the end of your life. These seconds become minutes. Minutes quickly become hours. Hour after hour, you are quickly approaching the end of your time allotted on this earth. Value your time, and your clients will value you.
6. Never take “payment plans.” You can always spot the “Budget fee, payment plan” criminal defense lawyers. They are routinely late for court, always have schedule conflicts, frequently continue cases in the foolish hope that they will be paid, and they always have the most difficult clients. I have seen them get disbarred. FANTASY - "People need payment plans, they don't have the money." REALITY - If you take payment plans, you will chase clients for fees. They have lenders - with lawyers - who specialize in that. You are a criminal defense lawyer, not an interest free lender.

When you are overloaded with too many clients, too many cases, too little time for yourself and your family, you are hurting your client’s lawyer. Performance suffers, people will get hurt.

FANTASY – “I am a professional, money does not matter.”

REALITY – You can't help your clients with legal matters if you can't help yourself with financial matters.

That's just how it is.

Respectfully submitted,
Stephen G. Cobb
FBN: 0835171

CobbLawFirm.com

Cashing In On Crime: The Dark Ages, Part II

The cornerstone of our current system of justice can be summed up in three words: Crime and Punishment. The focus on crime consists of a focus on guilt or innocence. Everything boils down to the focus of whether someone did something illegal. The focus on punishment consists of what is the proper infliction of suffering for a crime that has been committed. Crime = Punishment.

As any rational person can see, our criminal justice system has utterly failed. Likewise, any rational person would never commit crime because of the punishment, right? This is where the whole system breaks down: The founders of our criminal justice system believed it was rational when it is not.

This is not a minor distinction. This is the key to understanding the stupidity of our criminal justice system. The way we look at our criminal justice system is just as important as what we believe we see. What if our way of thinking were to become Crime Solution instead of Crime and Punishment?

In order to see the problem different, we must know something different. Something that the politicians, the media and the pressure groups want to hide from you: They don’t want you to know why we have crime I n the first place. Knowledge empowers. Belief enslaves. The less you know and the more you think you believe, the easier it is to use tricks of psychology to get your time, your vote and your money.

You have been fed crap and kept in the dark.

A prime example of being fed crap is the current hysteria, sex offenders. MSNBC has a popular series, To Catch a Predator. Here’s their spin:

“An ongoing hidden camera investigation into computer sex predators -- grown men, trolling the Web for young teenagers. This time, police are making arrests.”

Does that pass the smell test? I mean, really, does that sound like MSNBC is interested in solving the problem of sex crimes or that MSNBC is more interested in creating a climate of fear, scandal and higher ratings?

To Catch a Predator preys on your fears, preys on your emotion, preys on your logic and ensures a serious problem is transformed into cheap entertainment. If the show were a factual presentation of methods, techniques and strategies for keeping your family safe, that would be one thing. But it isn’t. To Catch a Predator is all about the chase, the titillation, and the big bust.

Although Doc Block and To Catch a Predator are criminal justice cable crap standouts, MSNBC is not the only offender.

CNN’s Headline News inflicts Nancy Grace upon us nightly.

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?