Cyborg justice: punishment in the age of transformative technology

Rebecca Roache (Oxford Centre for Neuroethics)

Abstract: Criminal justice systems currently employ a limited range of
penal sanctions to punish offenders. The type and nature of the
sanctions employed are, in large part, determined by the penal aims a
particular system is designed to pursue. However, they are also shaped
by beliefs about what people are typically like, and by the resources
available to develop and deploy punishments. Technology--particularly
human enhancement technology--could change both of these latter
influences. It could facilitate more effective punishments, support
existing punishments, undermine certain punishments, make certain
punishments more severe than was originally intended, and alter the
resources available for punishments and the constraints on types of
punishment. We explore some possible interactions between enhancement
technology and punishment, reflect on ethical issues that arise as a
result, and consider what our justice system must do in order to
ensure that it keeps pace with developments in technology.