Abstract

A crime has been committed. There is an innocent victim and guilt to be assigned. An order to ‘round up the usual suspects’ goes out. But only one can be found, and the amblyopic eyewitness looks up and down the line-up of one and points a finger. As it happens, the accused looks guilty, has a rap sheet a mile long and is convicted, more on the basis of his track record than anything else. Character witnesses are hard to find for repeat offenders. But there are nagging doubts, not the least of which is that the crime is different from the ones previously on his forensic CV. And neither the investigating officers nor the jury were screened for potential bias.

Stress is bad or at least that’s what the public hears, and generally believes. Indeed, it has been recently suggested that employees can sue employers for causing stress, although