Morals and the Criminal Law (From AIDS: Ethics and Public Policy, P 77-86, Christine Pierce and Donald Vandeveer, eds. -- See NCJ-112783)

• NCJ Number: 112784
• Author(s): P Devlin
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: Wadsworth Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A response to the 1957 Wolfenden Report's recommendations to legalize private, consensual adult homosexuality, this essay defends legal moralism -- the belief that some acts are intrinsically wrong and it is legally permissible to prohibit such acts.

Abstract

After reviewing the conclusions of the Report of the Committee on Homosexual Offenses and Prostitution (the Wolfenden Report), the author questions whether crime can be completely separated from sin. He emphasizes that criminal law is based on moral principle and then addresses three questions: (1) has society the right to pass judgement at all on matters of morals? (2) if society has this right, does it also have the right to use the weapon of the law to enforce it? and (3) if so, should society use that weapon in all cases or only in some, and what criteria should govern the latter situation. The essay also examines how lawmakers can ascertain the moral judgements of society and balancing the right of privacy against enforcement of the law. Footnotes.