Social Pressure, Memory Conformity, and Witness Testimony: A Recipe for Injustice?

Science Magazine's July 1 podcast talks about the role social and group pressure has on memory.

According to a recent study, people not only conform their opinions publicly to social pressure, but passive social pressure can also change peoples' memories subconsciously.  The study mapped these subconscious memory adjustments to a specific pattern of neuro-activity in the amygdala

Micah Edelson, a researcher on the study describes in an interview with Science Magazine Podcast how he showed a group of subjects a film, and afterwards asked a series of questions about it.  Shortly thereafter, he again interviewed the subjects; this time, however, he provided (false) statements about the film that contradicted answers that subjects had previously answered correctly, and felt confident about.  The subjects showed a strong trend towards altering their answers on all of these points.


This social and psychological phenomenon of particular interest to persons in criminal law fields because of its implications for witness testimony.  As the host of the podcast points out, many involve more than one witness, and they tend to talk to each other about the people and incidents involved prior to giving testimony.  Edelson's study implies that, although witnesses may not be intentionally lying on the stand or in affidavits, social influence may have actually altered even their most confident memories of events by the time they make their statement to the court.

Listen to the podcast here.

As an added bonus, though not necessarily related to Criminal Law, the rest of the podcast discusses the significance and long-term impact of NASA’s space shuttle; exploring the mathematics and applying statistics to the study of terrorist groups; why some penguins seem to be afraid of the dark; and more.

Crime Novels, in Real Life

The New York Times calls it "A Revenge Plot So Intricate the Prosecutors Were Pawns."

They say it's "one of the most bizarre" cases in New York's history.

Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, says that "In the collective memory, no one has ever seen anything like this before."

What do you think?

Read the story of Seemona Sumasar, who says that her ex-boyfriend framed her for a rampaging series of armed robberies, to get revenge for her refusing to drop rape charges against him.

This is the stuff of legends and crime novels, kids.  Only in real life, and affecting real people.

Attend Federal Terrorism Case starting Monday, July 18

Judge Davis in the District Court will be hearing a terrorism case involving individuals from the group al-Shabaab starting next Monday, July 18. The trial is likely to receive national attention. 


 The terrorism trial in Judge Davis' courtroom will actually start next Tuesday, July 19. The motions in limine will be heard on Monday, but the opening statements will occur on Tuesday.


Judge Davis' courtroom is on the 15th floor of the Federal Courthouse.  The courthouse is located at 300 South Fourth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55415.

Should Porn be Allowed in Prisons?

Stumbled across this interesting blog post on whether porn should be allowed in prisons. 

Some folks argue that it should, because sexuality is a basic right and it is cruel and unusual to deny people sexuality.  As many persons in prison are heterosexual, and prisons are usually segregated by sex, this argument sees porn as a method of sexual release for prisoners.

Other folks say porn, or at least some kinds of porn, should not be allowed in prisons, because it can be violent and objectifying.  People often end up in prison because of violent and/or objectifying behavior, and so this argument sees porn or at least violent porn as impeding reform and rehabilitation of prisoners.

The blog post is talking about Kyle Richards' case against the State of Michigan, protesting the policy in his county jail that outlaws pornography.  Richards argues that the anti-porn policy in the county jail violates the First Amendment.

In a particularly controversial recent story, a man accused of making child pornography and child rape reviews his own child pornography while in jail.  Because he is representing himself pro se, he has a right to review the films in order to prepare his defense.

Hamlet, As Performed by Real Murderers

Another hit from This American Life: Act V.  The official tagline:

We devote this entire episode to one story: Over the course of six months, reporter and TAL contributor Jack Hitt followed a group of inmates at a high-security prison as they rehearsed and staged a production of the last act—Act V—of Hamlet.

(The Cast)

The show asks, what can one more production of Hamlet possibly reveal about murder, revenge, and guilt that millions of previous productions haven't?  When the cast members are themselves murderers and other violent criminals, Hamlet can actually take on new meaning.  The cast members of a top-security Missouri prison explore aspects of prison life, and their selves, in their discussions over performing in the play with reporter Jack Hitt.

One cast member tells how he came to better understand his own violent history, and the pain of being a victim of violence, through playing the role of the Ghost of the King.  

Big Hutch, who plays Horatio, criticizes the plot of Hamlet on the grounds that Hamlet's struggle with whether or not to take revenge, because he says there is no real conflict: Hamlet committed to killing his uncle the minute his father died.  Instead, he describes how Hamlet should happen, using the prison as a setting to create a real moral conflict for the character.

Another cast member celebrates his participation in Hamlet as his opportunity to escape the social pressures of prison life and to learn about another culture.

And, at the heart of it all, there's Hamlet's timeless question, which the cast members daily bring to life: are we forever the prisoner's of our actions?