response to chapter 5

Response to CMJR 494/450 Chapter 5 question 2

The crux of the question is how can a person pre-determine the effect a piece of writing will have on another person and will that exposure cause them to go through with committing the crime which is being portrayed in the work.

I actually thought about this particular scenario while reading about the Paladin v Rice case in Chapter 3 and have outlined my response below.

My opinion is that if people already harbor the intent to commit a crime that they are going to go through with it. And yes some people such as the Columbine killers or the reader of the Hit Man manual will search out any means they can to plan and implement their crimes it does not mean that because these publications are/were in existence that they were the prime catalyst in going through with the criminal activity.
It is not the responsibility of the government to be the harbinger’s of what society is allowed to be exposed to. That is why we have criminal laws and a penal system to deal with those who misuse information. Many of the materials that are referenced by criminals before the commission of an offense have a primary purpose of being educational. Are we going to ban police or military manuals just because a sub-set of the population has gained access to these materials and used them to become better criminals? What about reference materials which deal with poisons? Take those away and what will be left for our toxicologists? I am not saying that the general population really needs access to materials that deal with how to build a bomb or hijack a plane but we are an information driven society and if you block certain materials from the pool than it makes it easier to keep blocking and then we are back in the era of book burning.
I do know that when reading books or watching movies people like to fantasize about living the life of the characters, they may wonder what it feels like to kill someone or get revenge on an ex-girlfriend or being an untouchable drug lord. Yet imagination is much different than reality and again those who do not have criminal instincts are going to close the book and return to their normal everyday lives those who are inclined to criminality are going to take notes close the book and start living that life.