Girl has caused physical damage to the first Boy, because her false accusation has caused another to kill him. If her false accusation resulted in his arrest, or in damage to his reputation that prevents him from gaining employment, then again, he has suffered physical harm. The "generally speaking" is my broad disclaimer on this count. I don't think that lying should usually be a criminal offense unless it results in physical harm to the person or property of another. Most cases of fraud or libel do result in physical harm of some form.
Deliberately breaking a person's heart, or manipulating them to do things not in their best interest, is certainly and undeniably wrong. But in the vast majority of cases, it's not something from which government is empowered to protect its citizenry.
However, certainly exceptions arise -- that's why I categorized that as "generally speaking." Harrassment is the most common exception: hounding a person in public, verbally abusing them, etc. There is a point where the maliciousness of "mental or emotional injury" is so manifestly clear that the law can intervene.
It's just that, most of the time, I don't think the law is an a good position to judge or protect on this count. This is the general principal under which I support the legality of a slew of issues, like gambling, prostitution, homosexuality, drug use, etc. One may easily argue that these inflict emotional or mental damage on those not consenting to them (or directly involved in them), but I don't think that's justification enough to make them illegal.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2003-01-17 11:57 am (UTC)Deliberately breaking a person's heart, or manipulating them to do things not in their best interest, is certainly and undeniably wrong. But in the vast majority of cases, it's not something from which government is empowered to protect its citizenry.
However, certainly exceptions arise -- that's why I categorized that as "generally speaking." Harrassment is the most common exception: hounding a person in public, verbally abusing them, etc. There is a point where the maliciousness of "mental or emotional injury" is so manifestly clear that the law can intervene.
It's just that, most of the time, I don't think the law is an a good position to judge or protect on this count. This is the general principal under which I support the legality of a slew of issues, like gambling, prostitution, homosexuality, drug use, etc. One may easily argue that these inflict emotional or mental damage on those not consenting to them (or directly involved in them), but I don't think that's justification enough to make them illegal.