Telepathy, and the law!

[garhkal]

Ok. Many prior websites i've been a member on, which have had a politics area, i've often asked this hypothetical question. Seeing as this IS a superhero board, it seems fitting to ask it here..


Ok that done, lets break things down a little.
From all the media i've gone through in my life, from comics and novels/tv shows as a kid, through my days of doing RPGs (ADND!!) to now days movies as well, Telepathy can be broken down into 4 main sub-types..

1) Thought receivers. In practically all examples i've seen of it, its shown as a Passive thing. You either hear people's thoughts, or you don't. No picking and choosing. BUT if someone's outside of your range, or is not thinking of anything at that time, you don't hear a damn thing.
Think of this level, as someone having a police band scanner. No cop out there on that band, chatting, you don't hear anything.

2) then we get into active Mind reading. Think what Charles did to both Wolverine and Jean in the first X-men film, or what jean did to Night crawler in X2. Its an active use power, most often depicted as one-on-one, and VERY close range (one novel i remember from the early 80s, had it where the guy who could read minds, was able to use it on anyone in range he could make eye contact with, but no further than 40 meters or so). At this level, you can go Deeper into someone's mind, separating surface thoughts from actual memories, and even potentially getting into someone's sub-conscience..

3) Thought Projection. What Luke did with Leia in Empire strikes back. Only twice did i remember reading about it, as being passively done.. ALL other times it's an Active power. You either send a thought to someone (Or many people), or not at all.. Depending on the source, it can be short range, or very long as hell (like Xavier did in Age of Apocalypse). Most often it is shown as being further range for just speaking to one individual mentally, while shorter range for doing a "Broadcast to many folk".

The last power, #4) is mind control. BUT THAT Is not important to this hypothetical question for ya'll..

So now we have the basics done..

Do you think someone who is a telepath (Grade 1 or 2) could ever serve on a jury? Does it matter if its for a civil case or criminal case? OR would such a person be seen as violating a defendant's right 'against unlawful search/seizure (4th amendment) and the right against self incrimination (5th amendment)?

Would it matter if he (or she) was able to broadcast what he(or she) was reading to everyone else on the jury/in the court room?

If someone WAS allowed to be on a jury, what would his or her responsibilities be? IF say i hear in a suspect's mind, him reliving the crime he's on trial for, but the evidence being presented would make most people say "Na he's not guilty, the DA's failed to make his case", would said juror be obligated to rule based ON THE evidence the DA's presented and vote not guilty too? OR can he go "HEY, DA, the guy is thinking of where he hid XYZ, that's your spot to get evidence...?"

What of if it's the other way around? The DA's done a bang up job on making everyone believe the suspect is guilty, but you have read his mind and know it NOT TO be the case..

What if it was someone else in the court room (Say one of the people in the peanut gallery)? Can you go "Hey DA, you are charging the wrong perpetrator"?

What about if one of the witnesses lies on the stand? Could you call him (or her) out for it?

If said telepath was around, would they be kept under strict control by the courts?

SO let the discussion begin..

[WTF]

You better not post that silly shit any where elese or they'll lock your dumbass up in the Looney Bin.

[gnadfly]

Nobody has successfully captured The Amazing Randi's million dollar challenge.

[dilbert firestorm]

this thing belongs on a comic book board! LOL...

not sure, there are certainly ramifications on this.

the TV series, Babylon 5, had telepaths and they were part of Psy Corp, a very corrupt organization. some aspects of telepathy were explored but not fully tho. they had carte blanche to read other peoples mind as a legal matter. the series did not get into the legal ramifications of telepaths, but its understood that they couldn't read other peoples mind without permission.

its very likely that telepaths would not be allowed on a jury unless there was a way to test them of this ability to disbar them.

if telepaths are used, its very likely that they would be part of the police interrogation team as part of its evidence gathering routine.

ok lawyers-foos, show your stuff on what you think the ramifications are.