Friday, October 17, 2008

The Fallacy of Precrime, It's Not Just for the Movies!

Wilton Alston writes, "The infringement stands on it's own and does not need further modification. In other words, it does not mitigate a tragic event to have not been texting and it does not worsen a tragic event to have been texting. According to the paradigm of libertarian law the infringements to person exist on their own and are punishable directly. As such, there is absolutely no need to punish antecedent behavior before any direct infringement occurs. When the State seeks to punish such behaviors, it generally does so by establishing an arbitrary boundary around what is acceptable and what is not. While it might be admirable to seek to influence prudent behavior, setting up arbitrary boundaries is not the way to accomplish this worthy goal. Every parent understands this fact. No State is equipped to change it."

Sort of like trying to increase the penalty for so-called "hate crimes".

The Fallacy of Precrime, It's Not Just for the Movies!

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