NCJ Number
85419
Date Published
1982
Length
322 pages
Annotation
This book examines the way in which the American criminal justice system has handled overcriminalization with regard to sex, drug use, and the right to die.
Abstract
The book's major theme is that overcriminalization of 'victimless' crimes is in direct violation of basic human rights. Decriminalization of consensual adult sexual relations among homosexuals and with prostitutes, use of drugs, and euthanasia when chosen by the individual is advocated. Moral, legal, and political arguments are presented to rebut basic assumptions that uncritically underlie the common American sense of proper criminalization. Topics of discussion include the concept of human rights as an unwritten constitution, the constitutional right to privacy, the morality of prostitution, drug use and constitutional privacy, and the limits of constitutional privacy in effectuating the right to die. It is suggested that the arguments for decriminalization of specified acts are elaborations of the deepest American values regarding respect for persons and their basic human rights. An index, table of cases, table of statutes, extensive reference notes, and a 500-entry bibliography are provided.