This discussion of memory may sound silly and theoretical, but in fact, in my profession at least, and I suspect in several others like psychiatry, it is a critical issue to think about.
There are people who have gone to jail on the basis of testimony about memories of things that never happened. Look at the Buckey case iin California. On the order of $15 million dollars of public money spent, years spent in jail, on the basis of patently absurd stories and manufactured "memories." Look at the Wenatchee child abuse trials.
Look at some of the "recovered memory" cases and verdicts.
In almost every case that goes to trial, the accuracy of memory is a factor. It is critical, therfore, for a trial lawyer to understand the limits of memory and how false memories can be made and believed in.
So maybe I'm a bit more of a fanatic on this issue than most others here, but there are few issues, IMO, which are so misunderstood by the public but have such profound implications for peoples' liberty and even life. |
