Athletes, especially football players, have been involved in some high-profile violent incidents.
- Dec 16, 2009. Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry had a domestic dispute with his fiance Loleini Tonga. She tried to get away by getting into a pickup truck. He climbed in the back, and while she was driving, either fell or jumped out of the truck, and died as the result of massive brain trauma.
- May 2, 2012. Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau died after shooting himself in the chest at his home.
- Dec 1, 2012. Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Javon Belcher killed his girlfriend, drove to the Chiefs’ Stadium, talked to his coaches and then killed himself in front of them.
Football, in particular, seems to breed violent behavior. We are all saddened to hear of incidents like these. But what has been learned in each of these cases mentioned about was that the players suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Not all people who suffer from CTE die violent deaths. CTE was first discovered in Pittsburgh Steelers Center Mike Webster.
Webster played in the NFL from 1976-1990. Soon after his career ended, his life began to fall apart. He had difficulty expressing himself, was agitated, his marriage dissolved, he became homeless, he became very erratic. He was declared mentally disabled due to his playing career, and died of a heart attack in 2002. His family asked for an autopsy, which was performed by Bennet Omalu. Omalu expected Webster’s brain to show the signs of Alzheimers, and expected a “shriveled” brain. To his surprise, Webster’s brain appeared normal. Upon further review, Omalu discovered specks of protein throughout Webster’s brain, and believed it to be the result of Webster’s years of playing football. Webster’s teammate Terry Long committed suicide shortly after Webster’s death. Long died by drinking anti-freeze; his life had fallen apart just like Webster, and Long was discovered to have CTE as well. These and other findings are documented in a PBS documentary, League of Denial, currently available on Netflix.
The NFL has long fought Omalu’s findings, but it appears the science is changing things. Just how serious are these brain injuries ? Leigh Steinberg, agent for former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman recounted a story. During the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers, Aikman received a knee to the head and received a concussion. Steinberg recounted his conversation with Aikman in a darkened hospital room. Aikman looked at Steinberg and said, “Where am I?” (approx 30 minute mark of film)
Steinberg, “You’re in the hospital.”
Aikman, “Why am I here?”
Steinberg, “Because you suffered a concussion today.”
Aikman, “Who did we play?”
Steinberg, “the 49ers.”
Aikman, “Did we win?”
Steinberg, “Yes, you won.”
Aikman, “Did I play well?”
Steinberg, “Yes, you played well.”
Aikman, “and so, what’s that mean?”
Steinberg, “It means you’re going to the Super Bowl.”
Steinberg and Aikman celebrated the news, but about 5 minutes later, they’re sitting there and Aikman repeats the exact conversation they just had, “Where am I? Did we win?” About 10 minutes later, Aikman again repeated the exact same questions. Steinberg describes his feelings,
It terrified me to see how tender the bond was between sentient consciousness and potential dementia and confusion was.
The film then shifts to LDS quarterback Steve Young, another of Steinberg’s clients (and the losing quarterback in the game mentioned above.) This time, it was a Monday night game against the Arizona Cardinals. Young was knocked unconscious and you can hear the announcer Al Michaels,
Michaels, “… a sight that is the last thing in the world that the 49ers would like to see. It looks as almost as if he’s out cold!”
Dan Dierdorf, “Al, I’ve been there.” (Dan is a former player of the St. Louis Cardinals.)
After a few moment pass, Young stands up abruptly and heads to the sidelines. It was his 7th concussion, and ended up being his last game he ever played.
Al Michaels in disbelief, “Look at this! It looked like he was out cold, and now he is up, walking off!”
Steve recounts that game.
I remember walking to the sidelines, [he shakes his head and chuckles], “This is not good! You know this is just not the right thing to happen.”
“If my knee is hurt, everyone knows it and I know it and we can deal with it, and shoulders. There’s only one place in your body that you really don’t understand. People always say the brain is the last frontier.
[Narrator continues], “For Steinberg, there was a growing realization just how dangerous the sport was.
Young continues (around 1:28 mark of movie)
You talk about a nefarious injury, one that you never feel, until it’s too late…That’s the thing that’s most alarming to me.
It was believed that CTE resulted in only NFL players who had experienced years of bone crushing plays. However, two of the most stunning cases involved a 21 year old Penn University football player Owen Thomas, a good student who hung himself in his dorm room despite having never been diagnosed with a concussion. Even more stunning was an 18 year old high school senior who died 10 days after his 4th concussion. He was a good student, multi-sport athlete.
McKee, “I was SHOCKED to find in the brain of this 18 year old there were little tiny spots, little tiny areas in the frontal lobe that looked just like this disease.”
[interviewer], “You have an 18 year old with Chronic Traumatic Encephalophy that just shouldn’t happen.”
McKee, “I had an 18 year old at that time. You know that that brain is supposed to be pristine. The fact that it was there, and he was only playing high school level sports, I mean that’s a cause for concern.”
This is causing researchers to wonder if “sub-concussive” hits were more dangerous than originally believed.When asked if she would let her 8, 10, or 12 year old son play football, McKee emphatically responded “No!” Hall of Fame football player Harry Carson advises his grandchildren that they should not play football. The NFL has recently agreed to pay $765 Million to pay NFL players for dementia related expenses. Carson responded that he now had 765 million reasons why people should not play football.
McKee has discovered CTE in 45 of 46 brains of football players, an astonishingly high hit rate. If CTE can exist in people as young as 18, how many other people have this disease, especially if they have played little-league football? Can some strange behavior be caused by CTE?
Back in 2004, Utahns were riveted by the news of Mark and Lori Hacking. Mark reported Lori had gone jogging in Salt Lake City and never returned. After a week of searching, Mark admitted that he had killed Lori and disposed of her body in a dumpster. Mark plead guilty and received a life sentence. It was learned that Mark fell off a roof and suffered a brain injury, causing some to speculate that was the reason for some of his odd behavior. For example, he lied to his family, telling them he had graduated from college and been accepted to medical school when he was no where close to graduation. Could Mark have CTE, and could this explain his actions? Could other angry outbursts be tied to CTE?
Not everyone thinks the links to CTE and football are related. There are other possibilities to consider:
- Could CTE be explained by drug abuse or steroids in a small number of NFL Players?
- How many brain traumas does it take to get CTE?
- How common is CTE?
- Is this something that everybody will get if they have enough brain trauma?
- Why does one person get it and not another?
There is a recent domestic abuse situation in which Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocked out his fiance in an elevator. Could he be suffering from CTE? (Currently there is no way to diagnose CTE except by autopsy.) And let’s not forget that while football gets the lion’s share of publicity, athletes in other sports get CTE as well. Click the links below for a list of athletes diagnosed (post-mortem) with CTE.
9 Other athletes diagnosed with CTE
- 9.1 American football
- 9.2 Association football
- 9.3 Arena Football
- 9.4 Canadian football
- 9.5 Professional wrestling
- 9.6 Baseball
- 9.7 Hockey
- 9.8 Rugby
I had a conversation with a neurologist who told me she thought football would “disappear” within 30 years because of CTE. Do you agree with her? Should football be banned? How do you think God will judge people like Junior Seau, Chris Henry, and Javon Belcher? Does someone with CTE really have agency? How should we treat them?
Wheat & Tares 
My mids will not be playing football.
Could Mark Hacking just be a pathetic, lying sociopath who ought to meet a degrading and early end on the yard of Utah State prison at the hands of his understandably disgusted fellow inmates? Only then will justice for Lori and their unborn child truly have been served.
I’d rather hear Mike S’ or other medical professionals take on this. Of course, you don’t hear much of this caterwauling about traumatic head injuries in other similar sports, like Aussie “rules” football or rugby, both sports played WITHOUT headgear. Remember that hockey was once commonly played at all levels also without helmets, and that was back when one would go to the ‘fights’ and possibly a hockey game would break out. I miss the days of ‘ironman’ football, where greats like this man, recently pass on, commonly played both sides of the ball.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Bednarik
It’s my unscientifically-supported opinion that the prevalence of head injuries caused by repeated trauma in football and other contact sports has to do more with the sheer increase in size and muscle contents (e.g., more buffed out) of participants, wherein the ability of even a well-conditioned young male to take repeated blows to the head is compromised. Peruse the rosters of most major sports franchises and compare listing of height and weights. I’d dare say that even the typical major league BASEBALL team could put on pads and helmets and get into the trenches with a typical NFL team (with the possible exception of the Steelers and their “curtain”). And forget the average adult male, even a well-conditioned gym rat, going in a “hamburger” drill against the typical NFL lineman; he’d likely end up hospitalized and possibly crippled.
#3 – Sorry, I meant TODAY’s MLB team versus a 1970’s vintage NFL team. Today’s Major Leaguers would get curb-stomped on the football field.
Headgear isn’t a requirement for CTE. The disease was previously called dementia pugilistica (DP); boxers were the most common to get it and were called “punch-drunk.” It was surprising to researchers that believed football players were protected due to the helmets, but it is now believed that helmets, while helpful for some injuries, don’t really protect the brain.
My dad played football, but steered his boys toward baseball and basketball. The film also talked to a Boston University researcher, Chris Nowinski. Chris had played football for Harvard, then went on to a pro wrestling career where he was known as “Chris Harvard.” In on case, he had been hit with a steel trashcan, and said he had headaches for 5 weeks. He knew something was wrong, and believes that he probably has CTE from both his football and wrestling careers. It should be noted that pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and son, then killed himself. He has CTE too. I will also add that rugby player Barry Taylor was diagnosed with CTE. Whether one wears a helmet or not, CTE hits them all.
There is even the case of Ryan Freel, baseball player for Kansas City Royals. He probably got CTE after colliding in the outfield with a teammate, for which he was out of action for about a month. Then he was hit in the head by a pick-off throw to first base. Freel later commit suicide.
Click the links above to find out about more athletes in other sports. (The list of suspected cases in the NFL is astonishing–Jim McMahon, Tony Dorsett, to name a few.) It is also believed that many soldiers experience head trauma–PTSD and associated disorders may be related to CTE.
It could be much more common that previously known, and was unheard of just a decade ago.
Soccer has a surprising number of head injuries, due to “heading” the ball. Many youth leagues are banning heading in hopes of reducing head injuries.
I love football, but I wouldn’t let my boys plays it.
Douglas, your comment about Mark Hacking presents an interesting conundrum. If scientists were able to get down to the chemical level inside the brains of murderers and see what was going on, they would likely find evidence that something was seriously chemically and biologically wrong down there. Would that fact mitigate their wrongs, and if so, should they still be punished? I read about a man who had brain surgery for epilepsy, after which he almost immediately became an incurable sex addict, soon caught by the FBI with loads of porn on his computer including child porn (though he had never had a problem before the surgery.) He was sentenced to only 1 year in prison, as a kind of compromise between the clinical understanding that he was not in control of his brain, and the moral understanding that child pornography cannot be accepted under any circumstance.
With regards to football, I think the risks should be quantified as well we can: we should know the percentages of players who get CTE, the percentages in High School vs. College and NFL, as well as the gravity of CTE (how many result in premature death, dementia, vs. more minor ailments.)
If we can quantify the risk, then we can weigh it against the benefits of football. On the professional level, it is an extremely well paid sport with amazing professional satisfaction and celebrity. On the High School level, it keeps kids off the streets, gives them discipline, good health, a sense of camaraderie, and a controlled outlet for natural masculine aggression. For the public, it is a great entertainment, brings communities together, and channels aggressive and competitive instincts in healthy ways.
Many would say its worth the risk, for themselves or their children. But, living in an age of over-protective parenting, many would say its not worth the risk.
I guess what I’m trying to get at with this article is “how do we define accountability when one has a brain injury?” I mean we all know suicide and murder are wrong. I believe that the book Mormon Doctrine even calls it self-murder and condemns suicide to the Telestial Kingdom.
But we understand that mentally retarded people or Downs Syndrome people aren’t accountable. I suspect many of us would say that severe Alzheimers patients are no longer accountable. But where do we draw the line? Will God hold Junior Seau accountable for his suicide when it is now known he had CTE? Will God condemn Seau to the Telestial Kingdom because of his suicide, or will God offer grace and understand the mental illness in his last act on earth? And Robin Williams?
But it goes further. How does God hold someone like Chris Benoit, or Javon Belcher accountable? Their brain injuries caused them to murder, prior to suicide. I mean we all know murderers go to hell, but what happens when they are documented to have CTE? How much accountability do these men have?
“Football, in particular, seems to breed violent behavior”
Or, it attracts violent people.
It does involve hitting people as hard as you possibly can and those that get involved know that up front, so I have a hard time accepting the notion that it breeds violent behavior.
I’ve found medically treating my depression has drastically reduced my irritability and all-out anger. Some of us need a little help to not be a complete jerk! I’ve often wondered how much more accountable I will be than people who didn’t have access to modern meds. My sister has wondered if our abusive father will be held accountable for not seeking medication. As with the parable of the talents, I suppose we’ll be judged by what we do with what we have.
I think of it as a gradient rather than a line.
MH #9 – I don’t think we can judge the eternal outcome of such things any more than we can judge the eternal outcome of those without alleged brain injuries. I do believe we have to have some social order so that we do our best to judge with the tools we have available. What do you do to a mother who drowns her 5 children in the bathtub? Don’t people have to be a little crazy to haul off and shoot or stab another human being? Is a sexual predator born or made? Yet, without some consequence, we might have real chaos. I think, unless football and other contact sports find a way to mitigate damage, they will eventually die on the vine. Or, we’ll corrupt our morals even more and revel in gladiator type exhibitions. Competition doesn’t have to require conquering to the death– or brain injury.
I drove my daughter and her son to their very first pediatrician visit. The first thing he said to her before even looking at my grandson was, “never let him play football.” She didn’t need any convincing. He never will.
In my view, suicide rarely occurs when someone is “thinking clearly.” Often there is a strong feeling the death will actually be a net positive for loved ones. Now when your attempt puts other people at risk (like driving into oncoming traffic, or deliberately downing a passenger plane), then you must be held accountable.
It is much harder when mental illness is a contributing factor in criminal activity (actions that negatively impact the agency of others). The person must be held accountable, but punishment won’t have the intended effect if the root mental illness remains unaddressed. There is a difference between someone who is unaware of their mental illness and someone who understands there is a problem yet willfully chooses not to treat it.
Down here in the Bible Belt, we would say y’all have gone from preachin’ to meddlin’…..
No one in their right mind would purposely go crashing head first into a brick wall. But unfortunately, that is what football has become. We are in awe of the great pass catch or brilliant run, but forget what does on in the trenches.
Perhaps a series of rules changes are in order.
Flag football, anyone?
I’ve said for years that football will not exist in its present form 20-30 years from now. If it is still around, it will be flag football. The evidence since I first thought that has been piling up around all of us, and I am more convinced than ever.
To those who said it was just football, this is wrong. Soccer players, from heading the ball, are also in danger. I think soccer should truly make the sport feet only. The velocity at which the ball travels, and the number of times they are practicing headers to become proficient, is alarming. Youth soccer should certainly prohibit heading the ball.
But to the real issue: how does this affect free agency?
CTE affects the brain to such a large extent, I would not judge people who suffer from it at all. But, to me, this speaks to a much larger issue. Does free agency exist for any of us? I doubt it.
I have read a lot of neuroscience on this issue. It is very interesting. Consider this: we don’t choose our parents, we don’t choose our initial environment, we don’t choose how or how well we are treated for the first decade of our lives, at least, and from 0-4 is when the most brain development is taking place, and we don’t choose the wiring or genetic makeup of our brains.
Many brilliant people believe that free agency is just an illusion. It appears that we make choices, but we just do what we are wired to do, and that wiring is out of our control. There have been interesting experiments on this issue, google it and there are many interesting articles. I don’t believe any of us have free agency.
My practice is to never use Mormon Doctrine as a reliable source of anything ever. I don’t see suicide and murder as remotely the same. If BRM had known anything about severe depression, he’d never have judged people who commit suicide. Obviously he didn’t know anything about it.
I hope this will get us to stop lionizing professional athletes and violent contact sports, especially in church. I would love to get through one Elders Quorum meeting without someone bringing up football.
“Is a sexual predator born or made? Yet, without some consequence, we might have real chaos.”
IDIAT, this is an excellent question. I don’t blame society for jailing/executing some of these people, because to avoid doing so would jeopardize countless more souls. So I think God does grant grace to societies for these people.
But as we advance in a society, we need to better mitigate these things. It will be nice to get a diagnosis of CTE prior to death, and hopefully provide treatments. If football can’t be fixed, then yes it should be banned. These are things we need to do as a society. I don’t really blame past societies for executing people with CTE (although it does appear they often execute themselves.)
It seems like these people often die without consequences or treatment. The pilot who crashed a planeload of people into a mountain in Europe comes to mind. It’s too bad he wasn’t treated and pulled off a flight before killing 200 people. God can’t look kindly on that incident, but how will God grant grace to this pilot? My mind can’t fathom God’s judgment.
I actually worry less about how God will judge them (I just figure he knows the real truth), but the real thing I struggle with is what do we do with people NOW. That is a really hard thing to balance people’s “guilt”, public safety, and how we can detect mental imbalances.
#17 – Jeff, I’d have to defer to the medical experts before assessing the role of psychosis in crime. E.G. to what extent is one culpable, both in a criminal law sense and in the eyes of the Lord? The laws in most state, wherein an insanity defense is permitted, don’t actually rely on a diagnosis of mental illness, but rather, “non coppa mentis”, that is, if a mind capable of comprehending guilt existed when the alleged crime was committed.
#7 – Nate, in the Hacking matter I never heard of a serious attempt to mitigate his horrific crime on the basis of insanity, though clearly that boy had some serious issues. His actions in cruelly dumping his pregnant wife’s body, wrapped in a mattress, and tossing her in a dumpster, ought to show to anyone that he understood fully well that he was guilty of murder. Years ago, this man would have been executed forthwith. But nowadays we live in a culture that seeks excuses to murder the unborn in their mother’s womb but gets into a pink fit about the dolphins and whales (and I very much like cetaceans, thank you, even Humphrey). So that there’s hanging-wringing over a piece of filth like Mark Hacking doesn’t surprise yours truly at all. If his fellow inmates don’t do the taxpayers of Utah a favor by disposing of him promptly, then it’s in the Lord’s hands. And it’s a terrible thing to end up thus (Psalms 90:11).
I’ve always said I would never let a son play football or daughter do cheerleading (regardless of the objectification etc issues) bc they are by far and away the most dangerous activities.
I think about CTE and mental health issues in the same realm of accountability – only God can know. Especially in the view of suicides. I used to be super into the BRM quote about the evilness of suicides, but have given up my certainty in recent years the more I learn about science around brain research and mental health.
There have been a few comments on the death penalty to protect others. Umm…you can be for the death penalty if you want, of course, but it has NOTHING to do with protecting others. Life in prison does that just fine.
And Douglas, romanticizing the past because people were executed forthwith? Are you serious? Thankfully, those days are in the past. People weren’t treated better back then, they were treated much worse.
#26 – What I ‘romanticize’, dear Dexter, is that in the days of yore, ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ weren’t subject to debate by some self-appointed group of effete intellectuals. Long before even the ‘law’ as instituted by Moses (necessary b/c of the ‘stiff-neckedness’ of the children of Israel), the Lord had already instituted the death penalty for murder. That it takes decades to carry out a lawful death sentence in most states and costs multi millions of dollars is of itself a testament that this nation has utterly lost its way. The trouble with ‘life’ or other supposedly severe penalties is that just as an inmate on death row is more likely to die of natural causes than in the manner prescribed by law, so often do killers sentenced to either ‘life’ or lengthy prison terms do in fact get out. One Mary Vincent, who nearly perished at the hands of a crazed cretin by the name of Singleton in 1978, who has since gotten by with prosthetic arms, can well attest to that. Singleton’s next victim, for which Florida did in fact sentence him to death in 1997 (he died on death row of cancer, aged 74), can’t tell us anything.
Hence why, being a pragmatist, I’d just as soon that most jurisdiction dispense with spending untold millions on futile efforts to enforce the law as it ought to be, but merely get the killer(s) behind bars, and let the general population deal with them. If California experiences a dearth of talent for the governor’s office (with “Moonbeam” on his fourth and thankfully LAST term, methinks we’re there!), and yours truly gets elected, I can well imagine a dialogue with the Director of the Dept. of Corrections:
Gov: (referencing a notorious criminal, likely at Pelican Bay State Prison) “Madame Director, I want to see an autopsy report on the prisoner on my desk at 8 AM tomorrow”
DOC Director: “Governor, the prisoner isn’t dead!”
Gov: “Madame Director, are you hard of hearing?”
I personally would love to see the prison population take care of Douglas.
Douglas,
I find your views repulsive and ignorant.
It seems that you have never considered the fact that many who have been put to death by the state were innocent. Does this matter to you at all?
And you quote your lord as saying the penalty for murder is death? So are you for the other things your lord said should be punishable by death? That’s a long and embarrassing list.
I’ve often said I would suck on a jury because I would ask too many questions about the circumstances around the crime, like how the person slept, if they had a history of mental illness, what their overall health was, etc.
I just thank G_d that in the end, we will all be judged perfectly by our creator who understands us, our life circumstances, and our physical and mental health perfectly. Other than that, I have nothing to speculate on.
I like your thirst for context, Living in Zion.
I read an interesting thought experiment that helps to illustrate what I was trying to say earlier.
Imagine a 25 year old man, who was raised by loving parents, takes a gun from his apartment, walks out to the street, and shoots and kills the first person he encounters, in his words, for fun. Pretty awful, right?
How would your thinking change if he had a large brain tumor in his medial prefrontal cortex (the area of the brain which controls emotion and behavioral impulses)?
I think we would feel at least somewhat differently, right? Wouldn’t that at least take away some of the responsibility for his actions?
Now, the brain tumor is something easy to point to. But what if, without the brain tumor, someone did the same awful act? Perhaps he has the same problem with his brain as the man with the brain tumor, except it was caused by something else, or something unknown? But he suffered from the same faulty lack of control. Did the man with the tumor have free will? Did someone else with the same faulty brain, but no tumor, have free will? What if someone with CTE committed this act? Then what?
#32 – in this HYPOTHETICAL scenario, I’d leave it to experts to determine if the existence of said tumor rendered the man in a status of ‘non coppa mentis’ and be able to convince a jury of peers that the killer could not have comprehended the magnitude of his misdeed. An interesting postulation, but one that needs more elaboration. Any real-life scenarios like that, folks?
Douglas, this whole post is about real-life scenarios. See Chris Benoit, Javon Belcher, Chris Henry, and the Germanwings pilot that I’ve already mentioned. The first 3 had documented CTE. The pilot probably has no brain matter left to test.
#33 – and unfortunately, in the case of the Germanwings crash, likely neither do any of his victims have any brain matter or much usable body parts left to test. Airliner crashes have a way of doing that.
There seems to be confusion between existence of mental illness versus the legal definition of ‘insanity’, which of itself is a misnomer, since Psychiatry doesn’t define insanity or even use the term (various psychoses having their unique terminology, some seem to be the “flavor of the month”). In the legal field, the latin term “Non Coppa Mentis” carries the idea of whether a mind exists that could comprehend guilt, e.g., that the action (murder or murders) is wrong and the consequences thereof. So the issue isn’t that mental illness exists at all…I’d dare say that anyone who would deliberately injure, rape, or murder even if (s)he understands fully well what’s going on has a sick mind.
It almost begs the question of why even have a CRIMINAL justice system at all, but rather deems ‘criminals’ as mental incompetents and would allow the state to ‘treat’ them, or at least confine them on grounds of public and personal safety. I can, however, think of quite a few pitfalls of THAT approach to crime, the first being the obvious dispensing of the notion of right versus wrong, with attendant dispensing of personal responsibility. Another would simply be the misuse of Psychiatry to more easily confine and warehouse ‘undesirables’ or those that are politically inconvenient, as was done in the erstwhile Soviet Union.
I suppose at minimum we ought to enact a law that every murderer, upon his death, whether by law enforcement action or capital punishment (the former at times being a street version of the latter), or once he passes on in the State penitentiary or asylum, have his brains craved up for examination. Those more knowledgeable in this field ought to be able to comment IF medical science has discovered anything that would point to a medical problem in the nervous system that would drive an otherwise decent fellow to murder.
Let’s assume free agency is an illusion. People do what they are wired to do. Period. Even in this scenario, it does not beg the question of whether to have a criminal justice system. BUT, it would change the purpose, and hopefully, the treatment of criminals.
The four purposes of the criminal justice system are:
1) deter others
2) protect society
3) punish
4) rehabilitate
Now, if we assume free agency does not exist, we are not throwing out the criminal justice system. But purpose #3, punishment, would become obsolete, unnecessary, and barbaric.
I think many people presume that giving someone with CTE a break because of their condition somehow robs justice. I disagree. Criminals will still be held accountable. Punishment, as some necessary part of the process, will simply become obsolete. They will be indirectly punished because they will be incarcerated, but to have punishment as a specific purpose of the justice system would no piling on to someone who couldn’t help themselves.
I think punishment should be removed as a purpose for all criminals. The other three purposes are all that is needed. Punishing someone, simply for the sake of hurting them, is wrong.
I also think an attitude that recognizes criminals as having faulty brains, instead of being evil, will lead to compassion instead of a desire for retribution. Also, rehabilitation would be much more successful, in my opinion, if they are viewed as having unhealthy brains, instead of viewed as evil.