The Enforcement Of Morals

Examines the regulation of sexuality, the family and unorthodox religious beliefs in classical Athens, by placing the question in a larger comparative and theoretical framework.

This incisive book deals with the use of the criminal law to enforce morality, in particular sexual morality, a subject of particular interest and importance since the publication of the Wolfenden Report in 1957. Professor Hart first considers John Stuart Mill's famous declaration: "The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community is to prevent harm to others." During the last hundred years this doctrine has twice been sharply challenged by two great lawyers: Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, the great Victorian judge and historian of the common law, and Lord Devlin, who both argue that the use of the criminal law to enforce morality is justified. The author examines their arguments in some detail, and sets out to demonstrate that they fail to recognize distinction of vital importance for legal and political theory, and that they espouse a conception of the function of legal punishment that few would now share.

Differs from standard approaches by focusing on the language of deference instead of obedience.

Ethics and Canadian Law Enforcement offers a comprehensive overview of law enforcement decision-making procedures in Canada, and evaluates the ethical conduct expected of law enforcement personnel, such as police officers, sheriffs, correctional officers, and private security. Dr. Richard Parent, a police officer for more than 30 years, draws on his professional experience to examine codes of conduct, internal investigations, misconduct and discipline, and the purpose of the civilian review. This text provides an exceptional overview of the theories, personal morals, values, and tenets of professionalism that lay the foundation for ethical decision-making. Selected topics examine the use of force; on and off-duty challenges; issues of accountability and oversight; the application of issued firearms; diversity in the law enforcement workforce; and the considerations that are unique to law enforcement policies within Indigenous communities. This accessible resource, which features boxed examples, chapter summaries, key terms, self-evaluation questions, and critical thinking exercises, is ideal for college and university students enrolled in police foundation and criminal justice programs, as well as law enforcement training agencies.

Contemporary liberal thinkers commonly suppose that there is something in principle unjust about the legal prohibition of putatively victimless immoralities. Against the prevailing liberal view, Robert P. George defends the proposition that `moral laws' can play a legitimate, if subsidiary, role in preserving the `moral ecology' of the cultural environment in which people make the morally significant choices by which they form their characters and influence, for good or ill, the moral lives of others. George shows that a defence of morals legislation is fully compatible with a `pluralistic perfectionist' political theory of civil liberties and public morality.