Consensual crime
A consensual crime (or victimless crime) is a crime where all of those involved in the crime are consenting adult participants, and no-one else suffers as a result.
Examples of consensual crimes in various societies at various times:
- adultery
- blasphemy
- use of illegal drugs, including alcohol in some jurisdictions
- homosexuality
- sex outside marriage
- belief in religions other than those locally sanctioned
- please add more to this list
Aguments for laws against consensual crimes
In general, social conservatives tend defend the existence of laws against consensual crimes.
- Advocates of laws against victimless crimes often assert that they are essential for the preservation of morality, the greater good of society or the prevention of an offence against God.
- They may consider that the harm of the activity in question is so great that people should be protected against their own actions, regardless of their desires.
Arguments against laws against consensual crimes
In general, social libertarians believe that laws against consensual crimes should be abolished, as there is no rational or moral reason for them to exist, and they reduce freedom.
- They also assert that the harm caused by the prevention of these activities is often far greater than any harm caused by the activities themsemlves, and would justify repeal of these laws on the same harm-reduction grounds that supposedly justify them.
- They assert that laws against consensual crimes may have the reverse of the consequence intended: for example, the War on Drugs puts the distribution of illegal drugs into the hands of criminals, and creates artificial scarcity, making their distribution highly profitable. At the same time, it fails to prevent the activities it was intended to prevent. Many cite the history of the Prohibition era in the United States as an example of a similar failed battle against an illegal drug.
Legalization of consensual crimes
Many activities that were once considered crimes are no longer illegal in some societies, at least in part because their status as victimless crimes.
For example, in the United Kingdom in the 1950s the Wolfenden report recommended the legalization of homosexuality for these reasons.
There are efforts to legalize Cannabis is many countries, and some radical reformers advocate the legalization of all currently illegal drugs (although they generally also recommend legal regulation of the supply of drugs).
Legislation against new consensual crimes
- any examples?
Further reading
Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do (ISBN 0931580587) is a book by Peter McWilliams criticising the existence of laws against consensual crimes.
- this is a stub article -- please write more about this subject
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