Breaking Things Down --Lowering the Burden of Proof for Safety--- Getting Rid of Punishment

Conjecture

Below is information on a beneficial bacteria suicidal people may be missing.  There's also work on a blood test for suicidality.

I personally think we're going to find biomarkers for homicidality as well.

One of the things that is going on with Biomarkers is often not as simple as a SINGLE GENE ---

• Additionally, there's the "BRAIN" --- but there's a lot going on outside the Central Nervous System --- including the Immune System, the Endocrine System, Metabolism, etc.
• There's a lot of "DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCE" out there related to ADHD and/or Autism that is related to MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION and SYSTEMIC DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION.
  • For people with SYSTEMIC DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION and an IQ over 70 --- what's out there in terms of TREATMENT & "SUPPORT" is so INADEQUATE it is BURNING OUT and BREAKING DOWN many people.
    • PART OF "PRO-LIFE" is SUPPORTING PEOPLE (ALL PEOPLE) -- INCLUDING AFTER THEY ARE BORN.
• There's Epigenetics
• There's ENVIRONMENT and
• There's the MICROBIOME which is NOT even technically "HUMAN."
• All of these things and more have complicated inter-relationships.
• When we think about "JUSTICE" --- those "IDEAS" have evolved.
• "BURDEN OF PROOF" is one of the "IDEAS" that we came up with to address the EQUITIES of who should bear the BURDEN of bringing forth evidence.    

Related Ideas include:PRIMA FACIE  --- 

Prima facie may be used as an adjective meaning "sufficient to establish a fact or raise a presumption unless disproved or rebutted." An example of this would be to use the term "prima facie evidence."

It may also be used as an adverb meaning "on first appearance but subject to further evidence or information." An example of this would be to use the term  "prima facie valid."

A prima facie case is the establishment of a legally required rebuttable presumption.  A prima facie case is a cause of action or defense that is sufficiently established by a party's evidence to justify a verdict in his or her favor, provided such evidence is not rebutted by the other party.

I think what has happened over the course of Centuries and currently at a very fast pace is  the understanding of the BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR.

• Stanford Professor Robert Sapolsky's book
  Behave:  The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst Selves makes that PRIMA FACIE CASE for the BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR.

Let's just say that the "BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR" was NOT the motivating force behind the Origins of the Criminal Law except in an indirect way.

I love this video with Professor Sapolsky --- I think he makes some excellent points with regard to the HISTORICAL TRAJECTORY of our Understanding of Behavior and its Biological Basis.

How Many Angels can dance on the head of a pin and The Free Will vs. Determinism Debate

I don't agree with Sapolsky's framing of the "FREE WILL vs. DETERMINISM DEBATE" and the reason I don't agree with it and really with the construction of the debate itself is because it is RUNNING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION CHRONICALLY and the "ABSOLUTIST" framing bears little relationship to "REALITY" and practical concerns.

I think people want "CONTROL" over their lives and Human Beings have been working to get that "CONTROL."

As we get more UNDERSTANDING of our BIOLOGY and the World Around US --- we can and do get more "CONTROL" --- we often also learn that things were not as they appear or more complicated than we thought.

There are an INFINITE NUMBER OF POINTS between "FREE WILL" and "DETERMINISM" and all around those two points that the DEBATE seems to miss.

BUT unless we someday become gods who are ALL-KNOWING --- WE NEED TO GET OUT OF THE PUNISHMENT BUSINESS.

So maybe Sapolsky is right insofar as our ideas going to "FREE WILL" are foundational to our systems of "PUNISHMENT" --- and we need to get out of PUNISHMENT.

Further, even "GOD" may not be in the PUNISHMENT BUSINESS.

Bishop Carlton Pearson says he received a religious message that there is No Hell.

Mental Health Courts --- Pro & Con

We've started to address biological issues in Criminal Justice much more DIRECTLY in the form of PROBLEM-SOLVING COURTS --- specifically, MENTAL HEALTH COURTS, DRUG COURTS and even VETERANS COURTS.

The BURDEN of PROOF in CRIMINAL LAW is SO HIGH --- PROOF BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT --- WHY?

• Because we're talking about "PUNISHMENT" -- often SEVERE PUNISHMENT.
  

The "BIOLOGICAL BASIS of BEHAVIOR" undermines the RATIONALE for PUNISHMENT --It doesn't undermine the RATIONALE for SAFETY.

On the one hand, we've already developed "CERTIFICATION PROCEDURES" for danger to self or others or gravely disabled ---With a LOWER BURDEN of PROOF than in the Criminal Law.

On the other hand, we have a HEALTH CARE SYSTEM that was overwhelmed by various forms of "COGNITIVE DISABILITY" early on.

It got a lot WORSE with DE-INSTITUTIONALIZATION for many reasons.

Over-Reliance on the "MIRACLE" of psychotropic drugs being one of the issues.

• Leading to a FAILURE to INVEST in INTENSIVE SUPPORTS in the COMMUNITY.
  

Understanding the CONNECTION between DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES such as ADHD and Autism and PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS and persistent EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING CHALLENGES ---

• Could greatly INFORM NEEDED SUPPORTS in the COMMUNITY.
• It could also potentially "MITIGATE" some of the COSTS.
  

University of Florida

Differences in Saliva Bacteria of Students With Recent Suicidal Thoughts (2022)

August 27, 2022

Neuroscience News

Summary: 

Students who reported recent suicidal thoughts had different bacterial compositions in their saliva compared to those who did not report suicidal thoughts.

Significantly, suicidal students presented with lower levels of Alloprevotella rava, a bacteria associated with positive brain health, in their saliva samples.