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Our Legal System After the Bomb - The Triumph of Lawlessness

NCJ Number
91114
Journal
Judges' Journal Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: (Fall 1982) Pages: 4-7,46-47
Author(s)
E W Fine
Date Published
1982
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This pessimistic article declares at the outset that postnuclear attack civil defense planning is essentially futile. However, it criticizes what planning has been done for its failure to address the crisis needs of law enforcement and justice to ensure the system's continued functioning in the chaotic aftermath.
Abstract
Official declarations from government planners unrealistically assume that criminal activity and lawlessness among the populace will not arise as a special problem because everyone will be concerned with the overriding issue of survival, which promotes altruism and cooperation. However, it can certainly be assumed that, given the chaos and scarcity of essentials for life, lawlessness will increase, seriously threatening the lives and property of those who manage to survive the bomb. The best to be hoped for would be some form of rigid social control to protect lives, control the flow of people and goods, and assure some fairness in the distribution of limited supplies of food and shelter. This would mean martial law and the absence of all individual rights. Legal professionals should not participate in civil defense planning because the entire exercise is questionable and an element in the arms race. The planning process creates a false sense of security and survivability, actually increasing the chances of nuclear war.

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