Liberty Alone

In the comments to this post on Paul Walter’s Liberal Burblings blog, Nich Starling aka Norfolk Blogger says

Being Liberal does not mean having the right to break the law. this is the law and it should be followed.

This is a strong statement, and one I’m inclined to disagree with. It seems like a very Tory attitude (I hope Nich will forgive for that) which places the law above anything else. Parliament is not divine, the law can be (and is) flawed.

So should we obey every law? What if we consider it illiberal and wrong? If Clarence Wilcock had not broken the law then would ID cards have been abolished? Most people surely agree that those who illegally sheltered fugitive slaves were doing the right thing, even if they were breaking the law. What about censorship laws? They’ve been broken many many times because they are wrong.

Personally I believe that it is generally morally justified to break a law if you believe it is wrong and you accept the consequences of your actions. Those conditions are important, if you believe a law is correct but then go on to deliberately break it you have no defense. Also, if you are not willing to take responsibility for your actions then don’t break the law in the first place and certainly don’t come running to me if you can’t take the consequences.

In the specific case in discussion, Charles Kennedy smoking on a train - he voted for the law so surely he doesn’t consider the law to be wrong, so he doesn’t have much to stand on. At least he doesn’t seem to have tried the ‘Do you know who I am?’ technique so beloved of politicians when they get into trouble…

Reid has suggested that sex offenders could be made to surrender their email address and usernames for chat rooms so they can be monitored to identify grooming.

This strikes me as futile at least, or harmful in the worst case. This is simply because emails and usernames are so easy to get. An offender could give their usual details but create new ones for grooming. Initially that makes the measures appear futile, however, given the fact that some data now exists, resources are likely to be concentrated on that information making it even less likely that those using undisclosed information will be caught.

The police will always be a step behind, but it would help if the law makers actually understood what they were talking about…