by Matthew Bransgrove | Oct 14, 2015 | Crime
Penalties should be set by law, not by judges Let mercy be the character of the law-giver, but let the judge be a mere machine. The mercies of the law will be dispensed equally and impartially to every description of men; those of the judge, or of the executive power,...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Oct 14, 2015 | Crime
It is contrary to justice to allow someone to murder simply because they forgot to take their medication. That is called getting away with murder. Consider this report from the New York Times: Lawyers for a schizophrenic man accused of pushing a woman to her death in...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Oct 14, 2015 | Crime
A man with a sword in his hand demands my purse in the highway, when perhaps I have not 12’d. in my pocket; this man I may lawfully kill. To another I deliver 100l. to hold only whilst I alight, which he refuses to restore me, when I am got up again, but draws his...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Oct 14, 2015 | Crime
No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree. The safest way to make laws respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Oct 14, 2015 | Crime
The civil law concerns itself with disputes over contractual rights, the enforcement of commercial laws, and negligence. By contrast, criminal wrongs are marked by such a savage disregard for the rights of others that society as a whole has an interest in ensuring...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Oct 14, 2015 | Crime
Theorists and practical men alike have generally agreed that the primary purpose of the state is to maintain order. But unless the state has the will and capacity to ensure order not only bad but eventually good people will flout its authority. The law-abiding are...
