Is Legislating Morality Immoral?

Paper Summary:

The paper addresses the phenomenon of over-criminalization in America today. The paper discusses how there is a proliferation of laws that punish people for behavior that, while considered immoral by some portion of the population, has no real victims and creates no lasting harms. The paper contends that although determining criminal behavior is a moral process, a freedom-based society has to balance society's moral views with the concepts of personal liberty and justice.

From the Paper:

"To understand how overcriminalization happens, one must first understand criminalization. Lawmakers respond to societal pressures by creating laws to address new social issues. This is not an inherently negative process. For example, before the advent of the internet, many behaviors that are currently considered criminal were not considered crimes and placed people in danger of victimization. This has happened in the area of violent crimes as well. As recently as a century ago, child molestation was not generally acknowledged, and such behavior was certainly not criminalized. As society became aware that child molestation was a problem, the behavior began to be criminalized. Furthermore, as society became aware of how serious and dramatic the impact of molestation is on a child's life, legislators responded by increasing the penalties for those crimes. In circumstances such as those described above, criminalization is a positive phenomenon because it penalizes behavior that has the potential for creating serious harm and is, by its nature, victimizing."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Luna, E. (2005). The overcriminalization phenomenon. American University Law Review, 54,703-743.
• Overcriminalized.com. (2008). Criminalizing kids II. Retrieved January 29, 2008 from Overcriminalized.comWeb site: http://www.overcriminalized.com/studies/case_kids2.cfm
• Sun Beale, S. (2005). The many faces of overcriminalization: from morals and mattress tags tooverfederalization. American University Law Review, 54, 747-780.

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