Controlling Victims

• The rule of law takes certain kinds of mind control into consideration when weighing the seriousness of violent crimes. In cases involving kidnapping, aggravated assault or rape, courts will hear evidence of mental intimidation in the commission of the crime. As a practical matter, communicating a threat of bodily harm or death to control a victim is considered equal to the use of physical force in the eyes of the court. However, the defense of forcible compulsion by brainwashing failed in the notorious 1974 Patty Hearst trial. Hearst had been kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a revolutionary group that masterminded a bank robbery in which Hearst was seen toting a rifle as an active participant. Hearst became the most famous example of Stockholm Syndrome, where captives form an emotional bond with their captors.
  
  

Testimony under Hypnosis

• Courts have difficulty accepting witnesses who testify while under hypnosis because serious psychologists disagree over the validity of such testimony. Most jurisdictions won't accept testimony from witnesses who are under hypnosis. However, it can be used to prepare witnesses by refreshing their memories. Facts recalled while under hypnosis are not disqualified as long as witnesses are out of their trances before testifying under oath.
  
  

Liability

• In 1979, a former Marquette University student sued the school for negligence due to "irreparable harm" from a class on mind control. The plaintiff alleged that the course caused him mental disturbances that he could not control. The court dismissed the suit because it would open up a myriad of potential claims by other students unhappy with the results of their courses. While it did not deny that he suffered harm, it did reject the notion that the school had a duty to protect students from all possible harm. Only probable harm would subject the school to liability, and the court determined that the evidence did not support such a claim.
  
  

Cults vs. Religions

• The line between legitimate religion and a cult has often been defined by the degree to which mind control is used to indoctrinate or otherwise exploit members. The legal definition of "cult" isn't so clear. Churches have fought allegations of cult-like behavior by suing those who try to expose it. Courts have repeatedly given the benefit of the doubt to religious groups under civil rights protections, regardless of cult allegations. Scientology has famously brought so many suits in the United States that defendants have charged the church with malicious prosecution. In 1996, the church even conducted a successful hostile takeover of one of its main adversaries, the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), which had been founded in the wake of the 1978 mass suicide of Peoples Temple members.