Posts Tagged Civil Liberty
Trial By Gossip
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Crime, Education on 18/08/2008
The Register, the online IT magazine, has a detailed report on the case of John Pinnington, a deputy head teacher who was fired from his job when an enhanced criminal records background (CRB) check registered allegations of abuse, allegations that were demonstrably weak. Pinnington took his case for judicial review, arguing that mere accusations should not have been disclosed to his employer. Lord Justice Richards has taken the view that they should be disclosed and that it was for the employer to decide whether an employee posed an acceptable risk as a consequence.
A prescription for disaster
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Health on 24/10/2007
Professor Julian Le Grand has a radical strategy for tackling the supposed problems of ill health in the UK: smoking permits (which might require a doctor’s note), an ‘exercise hour’ for company employees, a ban on additional salt in foods, more free fruit in general and more stern notes sent to the homes of children that have been found to be obese. Le Grand calls this broad sweep of measures ‘libertarian paternalism’, claiming, perversely that none of these actually restrict individual freedom. Wouldn’t ‘libertarian paternalism’ be more normally understood as a friendly word of advice without the backing of force?