We know that Earth and this galaxy are free-will zones. We know we have the freedom to listen and take heed of our conscience or to ignore it. When people seem to be without a conscience, is that an inability to hear its messages, or a decision by the divine realm to stand down?

When one does not hear from their conscience, it is a problem of inner disconnection, not that the divine realm has given up on the person or decided they are beyond the pale and not deserving of a warning about their misconduct. The divine realm will always do an outreach. We do not give up on people but people give up on themselves, and if they are severely disconnected from the higher self because of inner corruption by spirit attachments making this native disconnect much worse, this will undermine the person to the extent they will begin to be not only more selfish but eventually diagnosable as narcissistic where there is little regard for others, a noted lack of sympathy, and if this worsens further the person will become a sociopath devoid of a conscience altogether, unable to love, or have any feelings of compassion for the suffering of others—that is an ultimate disconnection in severity. The divine will make an attempt to reach such individuals but if their minds are truly closed, we cannot override that decision to shut the self down. Even when it is a pathological state engineered by attacking energies like the dark spirits, it is a consequence of the engagement and will have karmic significance even though it is not a conscious choice of the person to become impaired. They knew the risks coming into a new incarnation and the state of ignorance people begin life with as an infant demands a continued striving and effort to learn and grow and gain inner wisdom about how to manage one’s life to avoid missteps, to fight back against corrupting influences. So those who are blessed with a loving family and teachings about the divine will be in the best position to have a normal life and a happy one. That will have been a consequence of prior good karma in the way one has lived to enjoy such blessings. So this points to the need for an ongoing effort on the part of each person to cultivate a relationship with the divine to help their life maintain a steady course and to grow and progress upward rather than have a downward trajectory from becoming corrupted and ignoring divine reminders and entreaties.