Law in Contemporary Society

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AlexBuonocoreSecondPaper 11 - 02 Aug 2012 - Main.HarryKhanna
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META TOPICPARENT name="SecondPaper"

The Malleability of the Criminal Law

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Both Regina v. Dudley and the DEA’s current policy illustrate the malleability of criminal law. The British state likely prosecuted Dudley and crew only because of their cannibalism, not because of the homicide. The United States likely prosecutes medical marijuana dispensaries with political motivations, not because we unilaterally condemn medicinal substances with potential side-effects. We must be mindful of this malleability, and combat it when it interferes with the well-being of our clients and communities. \ No newline at end of file

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>		-- AlexBuonocore

I like the different focus on extra-legal factors motivating the prosecution as opposed to the conviction, since I think the analogy works better this way. But I think this paper gets a little confused when it conflates prosecution of medical marijuana dispensaries with the actual scheduling of marijuana which is done by Act of Congress, and of course Congressional action is extra-legal. It's political. And although the scheduling of marijuana doesn't line up with the factors, the fact that it is schedule 1 makes it legal per se.

I think this paper would be a little smoother if it made clear the distinction between prosecution of marijuana dispensaries and the actual scheduling of the drug by Congress. Both may be motivated by extra-legal factors, but one is making the law and the is enforcing it.

Anyway, I think this is a really good draft and I think it's much improved.

-- HarryKhanna - 02 Aug 2012


Revision 11r11 - 02 Aug 2012 - 20:51:21 - HarryKhanna
Revision 10r10 - 30 Jul 2012 - 22:56:22 - AlexBuonocore
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