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fandomhigh2010-02-02 03:02 pm
glasses-justice.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2010-02-02 03:02 pm
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Concepts of Justice and The Law [Period 4, Class #5, Feb 2]
"This week," Alex said, as she leaned against her desk, "we're changing the syllabus up a little, and jumping ahead to victimless crimes. It seemed like a better fit here. We'll get to civil liberties later on in the term."
With that, she scooped up a piece of chalk and began writing, continuing her lecture as she did so. "John Stuart Mill wrote an essay called On Liberty. It was his philosophical principles on which he felt government should be formed. In it, he lays out something which has come to be known as the Harm Principle. And that is ..."
She stopped and underlined the sentence she had been writing, then stepped away so the students could read it.
"Very simple," she said. "Laws should only protect against harm. Mill felt that the government should not have the right to restrict any behavior that wasn't directly tied to harm. Mill was therefore against something we know as the Offense Principle: the idea that certain rules should be made to protect citizens from themselves, or for the good of society as a whole. Detractors of the Offense Principle call these charges 'victimless crimes.'
"To give you a clearer example, let's talk about drug abuse. Some believe that any citizen should have the right to place any substance in his own body; he has consented, so it is no longer the government's concern in any way. Others say an addict is no longer able to freely consent, and that the government should intervene on his behalf. And some will argue that the cost is too large to society as a whole: that drug addicts are unlikely to be functioning members of society, and in some cases, are more likely to be violent when seeking a fix.
Alex lifted her shoulders and set the chalk down again. "I specified 'addiction' and 'abuse' because it's easier to see the harm. It would be difficult to say that recreational drug use is acceptable, but addiction is against the law. How does society determine addiction? There's no clear test. And today's recreational user could easily be tomorrow's addict. The line blurs."
"Should drug use be legal? What about prostitution, or gambling? Does the government have the right to enforce laws not predicated on direct harm?"
With that, she scooped up a piece of chalk and began writing, continuing her lecture as she did so. "John Stuart Mill wrote an essay called On Liberty. It was his philosophical principles on which he felt government should be formed. In it, he lays out something which has come to be known as the Harm Principle. And that is ..."
She stopped and underlined the sentence she had been writing, then stepped away so the students could read it.
That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.
"Very simple," she said. "Laws should only protect against harm. Mill felt that the government should not have the right to restrict any behavior that wasn't directly tied to harm. Mill was therefore against something we know as the Offense Principle: the idea that certain rules should be made to protect citizens from themselves, or for the good of society as a whole. Detractors of the Offense Principle call these charges 'victimless crimes.'
"To give you a clearer example, let's talk about drug abuse. Some believe that any citizen should have the right to place any substance in his own body; he has consented, so it is no longer the government's concern in any way. Others say an addict is no longer able to freely consent, and that the government should intervene on his behalf. And some will argue that the cost is too large to society as a whole: that drug addicts are unlikely to be functioning members of society, and in some cases, are more likely to be violent when seeking a fix.
Alex lifted her shoulders and set the chalk down again. "I specified 'addiction' and 'abuse' because it's easier to see the harm. It would be difficult to say that recreational drug use is acceptable, but addiction is against the law. How does society determine addiction? There's no clear test. And today's recreational user could easily be tomorrow's addict. The line blurs."
"Should drug use be legal? What about prostitution, or gambling? Does the government have the right to enforce laws not predicated on direct harm?"
Re: Talk to the TAs - JST05
Hey there stranger, she wrote. Then paused, considering. Unless this is somebody else. Then...hi?
She slid the note to the far edge of her desk and then went back to dutifully scrawling in her notebook.
Re: Talk to the TAs - JST05
I'll bring ye a cupcake if you promise I don't have to be a stranger, he wrote quickly. Then before he lost his nerve added, Missed you.
And the note when back on her desk.
Re: Talk to the TAs - JST05
She just looked at the note for a moment or two, then wrote a few lines, slid it over, then snatched it back and erased something quickly.
The note, when she slid it over again, read I missed you, too. And I love cupcakes.
In very faint letters (damn cheap erasers!) the note I wouldn't say no to a kiss of greeting, either could just baaaarely be made out.
Re: Talk to the TAs - JST05
Re: Talk to the TAs - JST05
Re: Talk to the TAs - JST05
"See ye then," he mouthed, hiding the note paper until his book.