Neither justice nor public confidence has been served by the costly three month inquest into Mark Duggan’s death. Part of the problem is that the inquest has been used as the vehicle for an examination of matters more appropriate, at least in cases like these, to the criminal process. The inquest has a function that is in part procedural: to permit appropriate matters to be heard in a criminal court. What we have now is a finding that Duggan though unarmed was not unlawfully killed by the police who shot him. No-one is likely to come before a criminal court charged with his homicide and questions remain in the minds of many that justice has not been done. What should have been a straightforward matter heard by a jury in a criminal court now has the appearance of an institutionally protected police hit job.
Continue reading “On the Function and Purpose of an Inquest”Lethal Blindness
In October 2012, journalistic initiative elicited some horrific facts about what has come to be known in the UK as the Death Pathway (or Liverpool Care Pathway). Until then, many medical professionals had waxed lyrical about Britain’s sedation-dehydration regime. International conferences were run extolling the programme. Medical staff warmly congratulated one another on its use. It looked as though the Pathway was destined for global implementation. Although thousands of families had experienced enormous grief over its use, little attention was paid to them. Legal and medical professionals who warned that death cannot always be diagnosed with any certainty and that placing patients on the sedation-dehydration regimen could all too easily prove self-fulfilling were dismissed as crackpots. Indeed, I was among them. For years I had warned of the political, financial and medical interests that there are in institutionalising medical homicide whether by passive or active means.
Continue reading “Lethal Blindness”Euthanasia, Belgium and the Slippery Slope
The slippery slope argument is rightly regarded a logical fallacy, but a prediction based on sound reasoning is far from irrational. As if to prove the accuracy of predictions once widely dismissed as slippery slope fallacies, the Belgian Senate Committee has voted 13 to 4 in favour of allowing euthanasia for those with early dementia and for sick and disabled children. This means that the matter proceeds to the Belgian parliament for debate.
Continue reading “Euthanasia, Belgium and the Slippery Slope”More serviceable dupes
In my last post I made the following observation about professionals who agitate for the substantial lowering, if not outright abolition, of the age of consent.
“To normalise the abnormal, there should be a ready supply of ‘useful idiots’. These are the journalists and quasi-intellectuals that can be relied on to give their blessing to the destruction of innocence perpetrated by decaying predators. That these ever-ready dim-wits exist should be obvious by the complicity of the press and broadcasting media that for decades suppressed complaints about the old pervert Jimmy Savile. Savile’s earthly span passed in a spirit of fearless predatory, necrophilic and paedophilic bliss. Those who challenged his revolting reign were ridiculed as, guess what, narrow-minded bigots. The alleged bigots were, needless to say, swiftly silenced. Police were fobbed off. Journalists, entertainers and managers lauded his antics as progressive. Giggling alongside the old abuser were police officers, judges, adminstrators and a catalogue of professionals who would have been on notice about the complaints leveled against him.”
Continue reading “More serviceable dupes”Destigmatising Paedophilia
After certain press criticism and a productive online backlash in the blogosphere, the American Psychiatric Association is performing a gratifying volte-face in its use of the term sexual “orientation” for paedophilia. In its fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V), the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has distinguished between paedophilic disorder and paedophilic orientation. Paedophilia-advocacy groups, like B4U-ACT, a grassroots lobby group, have long seen the declassification of paedophilia to the status of an “orientation” for “minor-attracted persons” (MAPs) to be a necessary means to their ends.[fn]See Dr Judith Reisman reporting on the August 17, 2011 B4UAct Conference. She highlights the plethora of paedophile justifications articulated by many speakers among which are such statements as “Assuming children are unable to consent lends itself to criminalization and stigmatization.”[/fn] The North American Man-Boy Love Association (and numerous international affiliates advocating sex between men and boys) see these and other developments as an important step towards their continuing objective of legalising and normalising paedophile activity. In response to the online critique, the APA has confirmed in the last few days that the DSM will be altered and that “it stands firmly behind efforts to criminally prosecute those who sexually abuse and exploit children and adolescents.”
Continue reading “Destigmatising Paedophilia”The Natural Law Reader
The Natural Law Reader, eds. Jacqueline A. Laing & Russell Wilcox (Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, 2013).
“A treasure trove of excerpts, some revelatory, and all of them inspired choices. For those afflicted by caricatures of the natural law tradition, this book is the cure.”
–John Gardner, Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Oxford
“With their generous vision, Laing and Wilcox open up the idea of law in Western thought beyond today’s limits of analytical liberalism and positivism.”
–Anthony Carty, Sir Y K Pao Chair of Public Law, University of Hong Kong
Continue reading “The Natural Law Reader”Cultural relativism and ‘honour’ killing
Cambridge University’s Institute of Criminology has undertaken research that shows that the practice of vigilante justice or ‘honour’ killing usually against women is regarded by a substantial proportion of the students surveyed as morally acceptable. The report suggests that of the 850 Jordanian students surveyed, attitudes in support of honour killing are far more likely in adolescent boys with low education backgrounds:
“In total, 33.4% of all respondents either “agreed” or “strongly agreed” with situations depicting honour killings. Boys were more than twice as likely to support honour killings: 46.1% of boys and 22.1% of girls agreed with at least two honour killing situations in the questionnaire. 61% of teenagers from the lowest level of educational background showed supportive attitudes towards honour killing, as opposed to only 21.1% where at least one family member has a university degree. 41.5% of teenagers with a large number of siblings endorsed at least two honour-killing situations, while this was only the case for 26.7% of teens from smaller families.” (supra)
Continue reading “Cultural relativism and ‘honour’ killing”Incentivising Death
“Incentivising Death” Solicitors Journal (2013) 9.
Infanticide: a reply to Giubilini and Minerva
“Infanticide: a reply to Giubilini and Minerva” Journal of Medical Ethics 0 (2013) 1-6.
A Useful Natural Law Resource
My new book co-edited with Russell Wilcox is now out. The book aims to supply a useful resource for courses in philosophy and law.
The Natural Law Reader, eds. Jacqueline A. Laing & Russell Wilcox (Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, 2013).
“A treasure trove of excerpts, some revelatory, and all of them inspired choices. For those afflicted by caricatures of the natural law tradition, this book is the cure.”
–John Gardner, Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Oxford
“With their generous vision, Laing and Wilcox open up the idea of law in Western thought beyond today’s limits of analytical liberalism and positivism.”
–Anthony Carty, Sir Y K Pao Chair of Public Law, University of Hong Kong
Continue reading “A Useful Natural Law Resource”