Ethics

The Line Between Harsh Condemnation and Calling for Violence

By Ed Brayton

In the wake of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, I have heard a lot of noise about holding people other than the murderer responsible for what happened. But I think we need to make some important distinctions, both between moral responsibility and legal responsibility (which are not the same thing) and between those who advocate violence against abortion doctors and those who only condemn what they do without calling for violence.

First, as a legal matter, unless someone else actually helped Roeder plan and carry out the murder, there is little chance that anyone can be held legally responsible for the crime. And that includes even those who advocate or cheer violence against abortion doctors, either before or after the fact. Unless they took some actual step to help, there is no legal means of holding anyone else responsible for helping.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on June 04, 2009 (boomark / email).