http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7116774.stm
To sum this up, there are still Nazi witch hunts going on. This particular article focuses on the pursuit of Aribert Heim. An SS officer notorious for the extremely painful and cruel tests he subjected Jewish prisoners to during WWII.
So lets look at this from two angles. A more restrictivist legal positivist approach and a natural law approach. If I were a natural law theorist, I would be all for these witch hunts. This man made a clear violation of the law, and an enormous violation of morality. Persecuting this guy would be a huge victory for me.
Now as a Restrictivist legal positivist I may feel differently. I would believe this is clearly a waste of time as this is a moral issue. This man violated no laws during the time these acts were commited, and no crimes after the laws changed. Furthermore, this man has been on the run for a long time. He clearly is no threat to social order. Therefore, a trial would be a waste of time.
Perhaps im being a little precarious with my application of restrictivism, but I think this is a fascinating case to dissect. Most of us will agree that this guy should be brought to trial. But if we take a step back and look at it from a legal standpoint. Whats the point? Putting him in jail or to death will hardly accomplish anything, the mans virtually dead already. Second, what does this accomplish? The man clearly has caused no disorder since he was an SS officer. Bringing him to justice is a purely superficial act.
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This case reminds me of the one Fuller and Hart discussed during their debate. Briefly, a woman turned her husband in for treason during the Nazi regime after he made some choice comments.
ReplyDeleteHart made this point, and I find myself agreeing with it: unless you propose/initiate some type of retroactive law, there's no point in pursuing the former SS officer- and is it necessarily moral to enact retroactive laws? We can't just throw people in jail for being morally depraved if they are completely lawful citizens.
I guess i agree with the Natural Law side.... i believe morality needs to be an factor in law to keep a just society. Bring his ass in! This "SS officer notorious for the extremely painful and cruel tests he subjected Jewish prisoners to during WWII" needs to face justice. I do see the dilemma if it was legal back then, technically (and unfortunately)there is nothing we can do
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