Posts Tagged ‘psychopathy’

February 29. 2012 | Jim Silver

Are Psychopaths Criminally But Not Morally Responsible?

I just finished reading a very interesting article titled “Dangerous Psychopaths” written by Ken Levy, an Associate Professor at the LSU Law Center, in which he argues that although psychopaths may not be morally responsible for their actions, they should be held criminally responsible, and even subject to preventive detention under certain circumstances (preventive detention is essentially civil commitment based on a person’s dangerousness to themselves or others because of some mental…

January 24. 2012 | Jim Silver

Why Do I Work With Psychopaths?

“How can you stand working with psychopaths?” is a question I sometimes hear when people find out that I’m criminal lawyer.  And, yes, over the years, I’ve prosecuted and represented people who’ve done pretty bad things, but I still find the question fascinating because of the assumptions behind it – that all criminals are psychopaths (they’re not) and that all psychopaths are criminals (they’re not). Depending on how well I know the person, I might respond: “How can you stand working…