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VICTIMLESS CRIMES AND THE CULTURE WARS OF THE 1990S

NCJ Number
143899
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1993) Pages: 30-40
Author(s)
J Dombrink
Date Published
1993
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article examines the religious, political, and economic shaping of the "cultural wars" that involve victimless crimes in the United States in the 1990's.
Abstract
The article identifies the genesis of the interest by American sociolegal scholars in the reform of the criminal law in the area of vice in the 1960's, as well as the nature of their practical and philosophical opposition to government interference in certain private acts. The author then compares the evolution of government policy and public opinion toward each of the particular victimless crimes (abortion, gambling, prostitution, homosexuality, drug use, and euthanasia), describing how each has evolved along a different track. The connections between each of the victimless crimes in contemporary America is examined, as well as the debates associated with appropriate government policy on each of them. The article then examines the cultural importance of attitudes toward the activities contained in these victimless crimes and the reasons why criminal laws have been brought to bear against them, along with the reasons and movements to remove the criminal law to reflect and to shape public opinion. 41 references

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