Is it illegal to be in possession of a human body part?

[The Great Sun Jester]

One that is not and never was attached to you? Can I legally own a shrunken head? Can I make my own shrunken heads? For that matter could I constuct a whole human body using parts from various cadavers and then attempt to reanimate it using electricity harnessed from a lightning bolt? Would I incur any financial/tax liability by gaining the use of electricity for free while not being connected to the grid?

Because, you know. Just askin'.

[Colibri]

As far as I know, simple possession of a human body part is not illegal, as long as you can establish you came by it legally. You can buy human skulls and bones from biological supply houses, though real ones have gotten rather pricey. I think you can also probably buy a shrunken head, but an authentic human one is going to cost thousands of dollars.

In some jurisdictions there may be some laws concerning "abuse of a corpse" or some such; but ordinary possession of legally acquired body parts should not in itself be a problem.

[Colibri]

Shrunken head auctioned by Christie's

[Colibri]

Human skulls for sale

[CalMeacham]

Not if all those toes used in drinks that showed up recently in a thread here were really human toes.

[Sapo]

Would reanimation be considered "abuse of a corpse"?

[twickster]

Originally Posted by Sapo

Would reanimation be considered "abuse of a corpse"?

Depends what you do with it after it's reanimated.

[si_blakely]

Trust Google Ads...

Originally Posted by Google Ads

Human Shrunken Heads
Authentic Human Shrunken Heads handmade in the Amazon by Jivaros.
www.salangome.com

Si

[Kokopilau]

I hope you mean "be in possession of a human body part other than any of your own", otherwise we're all in a lot of trouble.

[TheLoadedDog]

It seems that regularly, about every year or two, there's a newspaper story about a horrified person finding bits of cadaver in some guy's freezer and it turns out that the guy is a medical student who'd brought them home to study and it hadn't occurred to him that others might freak out.

[Bear_Nenno]

As long as the remains are not of Native Americans, you can possess them.

[carnivorousplant]

Originally Posted by Inigo Montoya

attempt to reanimate it using electricity harnessed from a lightning bolt?

So, Inigo, what's going on this weekend?

Remember to be carefull experimenting with lightning. Ben Franklin was lucky!

[Ranchoth]

si_blakely—Those particular heads are crafted from animal hides. (Maybe not CRUELTY free, but no human life lost.)

And I've gone to the Bone Room myself...I can confirm that, if I had the cash, I could drive down to Berkeley, buy an armload of human skeletons, and be back in time for lunch.

[si_blakely]

Originally Posted by Ranchoth

si_blakely—Those particular heads are crafted from animal hides. (Maybe not CRUELTY free, but no human life lost.)

But the ad says authentic shrunken human heads. I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked

The Maori of New Zealand have made determined efforts over the 20 or so years to have mokomokai (tattooed preserved human heads) returned to maori ownership. While I agree with recovering such artifacts from private collections, I would hope that at least some can remain in museums, for research and historical purposes. And not all mokomokai are tribal history or revered ancestors. The Maori were enterprising folk who were not above tattooing and killing slaves to trade heads for guns.

Si

[WotNot]

Originally Posted by si_blakely

The Maori of New Zealand have made determined efforts over the 20 or so years to have mokomokai (tattooed preserved human heads) returned to maori ownership. While I agree with recovering such artifacts from private collections, I would hope that at least some can remain in museums, for research and historical purposes. And not all mokomokai are tribal history or revered ancestors. The Maori were enterprising folk who were not above tattooing and killing slaves to trade heads for guns.

It occurs to me that they may still be enterprising folk, and that they may not be above campaigning for the return of mokomokai so that they can sell them to museums for research and historical purposes.

[Loach]

Yes it can be illegal depending on how you get them and where you are.

[Colibri]

Originally Posted by Loach

Yes it can be illegal depending on how you get them and where you are.

It's not at all clear from that story whether the illegal part was "keeping human body parts in her home." In the case of the hand, it would seem to have been obtained illegally, so that possession itself might be illegal. If she really purchased the skulls from a medical-supply catalog as alleged then there should not be anything illegal about possessing them, barring a local ordinance that prohibits keeping body parts in a private residence or some such.

[Loach]

Originally Posted by Colibri

It's not at all clear from that story whether the illegal part was "keeping human body parts in her home." In the case of the hand, it would seem to have been obtained illegally, so that possession itself might be illegal. If she really purchased the skulls from a medical-supply catalog as alleged then there should not be anything illegal about possessing them, barring a local ordinance that prohibits keeping body parts in a private residence or some such.

She was charged with improper disposition of human remains under state law. I don't know what is going on with the case now, probably waiting for a court date. I tried to search for the statute but I gave up. New Jersey tries to make it as difficult as possible to find particular laws online.

[Mangetout]

Originally Posted by Colibri

As far as I know, simple possession of a human body part is not illegal

All the folks I know are each in possession of pretty much an entire set of human body parts.

[Colibri]

Originally Posted by Loach

She was charged with improper disposition of human remains under state law. I don't know what is going on with the case now, probably waiting for a court date. I tried to search for the statute but I gave up. New Jersey tries to make it as difficult as possible to find particular laws online.

Thanks. If she got the hand from a medical student as the article suggests, that no doubt would qualify. I would assume that there are regulations governing the disposition of cadavers used in medical school.

I used to teach Human Anatomy, but since it was for non-pre-meds we dissected cats instead of cadavers. But we had plenty of real human bones and other human body parts in jars around the lab.

[Bippy the Beardless]

Originally Posted by Ranchoth

if I had the cash, I could drive down to Berkeley, buy an armload of human skeletons, and be back in time for lunch.

Planning on having soup for lunch?

If Human bones are so expensive, is it possible to have your own bones sold off as part of a will to benefit your heirs?

[bonzer]

Under British law, the crucial recent case is that of Anthony-Noel Kelly, an artist who was charged, convicted and jailed for stealing body parts.

Traditionally in England the law didn't regard a body as a possession of anyone and hence something that couldn't be stolen. Once upon a time, this led to various work-arounds like bodysnatchers being prosecuted for nicking the burial clothes that happened to shroud the body they were carting off. Which in turn led to to the standard practice amongst snatchers of stripping the bodies of their clothing. (Ruth Richardson's 1988 classic Death, Dissection and the Destitute is stuffed full of such details.)

[Crescend]

Originally Posted by Colibri

I used to teach Human Anatomy, but since it was for non-pre-meds we dissected cats instead of cadavers. But we had plenty of real human bones and other human body parts in jars around the lab.

One of the medical schools (NY State) I interviewed with gave students taking anatomy a box of human bones to study at home.

[si_blakely]

Originally Posted by Bippy the Beardless

If Human bones are so expensive, is it possible to have your own bones sold off as part of a will to benefit your heirs?

No need. Some unethical b******d will slice out your bones and sell them and stuff PVC pipes in your legs without you having to do a thing.

Si

[Loach]

Here is the update for those who are interested. This is about the stripper and the body parts. It seems like the original charges of improper disposition of human remains were dropped after the origin of the parts were revealed during the investigation. I'm sure the biggest concern was to find out where the parts came from and if there was some other crime involved such as murder. It seems that the skulls were obtained legally. The hand was stolen by a then med student and he gave it to the stripper for a job well done. The doctor plead guilty to theft and she was charged with receiving stolen property. He is getting 5 years probation and can't apply for a medical license in New Jersey during that time (he is a resident in California so no big deal). She is going to enter a pre-trial intervention program which will clear her record if she doesn't commit any crimes.

Neither got to keep the hand.