Re: "punishment"

Tony B. Csoka (csoka@itsa.ucsf.edu)
Sat, 21 Jun 1997 17:21:58 -0700 (PDT)


Perry E. Metzger wrote:

>What *do* I believe in? Torts. I don't see why there should be any
>real distinction between what happens if you break a contract, break
>a piece of my personal property, or break my leg -- I should sue you
>for damages, and get restitution. This is essentially a return to the
>early legal systems much of Europe had, before kings discovered that
>declaring certain offenses to be violations of the *KING'S* peace and
>not torts was a way to earn a buck by collecting the fines for the
>crown instead of for the victim.

Yeah, but at the present time it's difficult to sue someone when you're
dead.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tony B. Csoka
Department of Pathology
HSW-547
School of Medicine
University of California
San Francisco
CA 94143-0506

Tel: (415) 476 2745
Fax: (415) 476 9672