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Right, Rights and Right?

© Su Epstein

Right, Rights and Right?

Before we roll up our sleeves and settle into some real nitty-gritty in the area of crime or deviance, recent discussion raised another philosophical issue perhaps worth pondering at the onset… the notion of “right.” My trusty Random House dictionary defines “Right” as “in accordance with what is good, proper, or just … in conformity with truth or fact.” Seems simple, and we all have times when we know we are right.

However, in the study of Crime or Deviance, right isn’t always as it appears. First, there is consideration of right in the legal sense, that is “one’s rights” under the law. These are rules dictated by government that grant privilege or protection. But are they right, in the sense of good, proper, just or truth? Typically it depends on one’s perspective. Any debate on issues such as gun control or capital punishment clearly indicates that one’s rights (or lack of) are not universally considered right (just).

Then there is the confounding issue of right in the truthful and moral senses. Most people would like to think that there is a moral and truthful right. We would like to believe that what a society punishes as crime or deviant is clearly wrong, the opposite of right and therefore the punishment is just.

For anyone seriously investigating or involved with the topic of crime, we quickly learn nothing is that simple. A person’s rights may not be just. Justice may not be morally right, and neither may be truth.

In light of this discussion I propose two situations for thought:

1) A mother sees her small child being sexually assaulted by another person. She attacks the person to save her child by smashing a frying pan over the head of the abuser. In this process, the abuser suffers brain damage and dies. The mother is charged with murder. The mother did not have the Right to kill another person, but the truth of the situation is she did kill. Yet, it can be argued the mother did the correct (right) thing in protecting her child, is it right (moral or just) for her to be punished, and if so how much?

2. A homeless, mentally ill boy is caught stealing food for his dying sister. No where does one have the right to steal, yet is it right (moral or just) to punish this young man?

I know these examples might be considered extreme. Who was it that said, “context is king”? But that is just why I raise this now, as you think about crime, deviance, punishment, or law, it is important to remember that in the abstract there is always right, but in the reality it is not necessarily so easy.

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