[Previous entry: "Greenpeace founder now backs nuclear power"] [Next entry: "U.S. Weighing Readiness for Military Action Against Iran"]
04/26/2008: "Studies show criminality is highly heritable"
Studies have shown that up to 62 percent of antisocial and criminal behavior is "heritable," a rough measure of a genetic contribution. And in a few cases, courts have allowed arguments seemingly akin to "My genes made me do it."
The Supreme Court of South Carolina reversed a murder conviction for a man who shot a shopkeeper in the head, concurring with the killer's attorney that his actions were an outgrowth of severe, genetically rooted depression -- essentially saying that what he did was the result of an inherited disease rather than an act of free will.
[ All deliberate criminal acts are a product of the kind of person the criminal is. They should not be considered less culpable because of that! What this shows is that eugenics is necessary - especially preventing worthless and harmful people from multiplying. ]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/19/AR2008041902225_3.html?sid=ST2008042100610