October 6, 1995

Genetics and Criminology Prove an Explosive Mixture

Protesters disrupt long-delayed meeting on possible genetic basis of criminal behavior

By David L. Wheeler

Queenstown, Maryland -- Scholars came here to have a congenial discussion about genetic explanations for criminal behavior. But a protest that interrupted the meeting turned so contentious that the conference came close to the kind of violence the scholars had come to discuss.

About 30 protesters burst into the meeting, held at a rural conference center on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Using a bullhorn, they lectured participants about the dangers of biological determinism and tried to