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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence
Facing The Unborn, Richard Stith
Facing The Unborn, Richard Stith
Richard Stith
Modern science tells us of the identity of each individual human being from conception to adulthood, but our imagination does not fully cooperate. It is difficult to look at a photograph of a zygote and see a fellow human being. There are, however, two strong ways to better align our knowledge and our intuition. One is to look backward in the developmental process. It is easy to grasp that our fellow human beings all used to be zygotes. A second method is now becoming available. DNA can be used to reveal the future face and even the eyes of each …
Punishment, Invalidation, And Nonvalidation: What H.L.A. Hart Did Not Explain, Richard Stith
Punishment, Invalidation, And Nonvalidation: What H.L.A. Hart Did Not Explain, Richard Stith
Richard Stith
Elaborating first upon H. L. A. Hart's distinction between imposing duties and imposing disabilities, this article explores the two senses mentioned (but not fully explained) by Hart in which power-holders may be legally disabled. Legal invalidation (nullification) of norms that have been generated by vulnerable power-holders is seen to reduce diversity or pluralism in every normative sphere, from the supranational to the intrafamilial. By contrast, mere legal nonvalidation (noncognizance) of such norms tends to preserve the autonomy of the power-holders that created the norms, thus enhancing legal pluralism. Punishment for creating forbidden norms amounts in principle to an in-between sort …
Excluding Religion Excludes More Than Religion, Richard Stith
Excluding Religion Excludes More Than Religion, Richard Stith
Richard Stith
This Article contends that excluding apparently religious perspectives from public debate may inadvertently exclude non-religious perspectives as well, consequently impoverishing public discussion. This contention is demonstrated through an examination of the current debate over embryonic stem cell research, in which the pro-life position is often declared unacceptably religious. The truth is that those who envision the unborn as under construction in the womb do not find a human being present when gestation has just begun, while those who understand the unborn to be developing see an identity of being from conception. But neither view is based on religion. To disqualify …