Offensive Conduct

This revealing, introspective look at an athlete's intense drive to succeed in football also explores the adjustment to life after the final whistle. John "Hog" Hannah was a two-time All-American for the Crimson Tide under Bear Bryant. Hannah starred for the Patriots from 1973 to 1985 and was one of the most beloved New England Patriots players of all time. In his autobiography, the greatest offensive lineman in the history of the sport candidly discusses the price of dominating the trenches. Hannah also recounts his battles on the field against the Raiders and Dolphins and off the field with Patriots management. An introspective man who found religion later in life, Hannah describes the forces that shaped his drive to succeed and his addiction to control anything that threatened to separate him from perpetuating the "glory of greatness." Reflecting on how this mind-set proved detrimental beyond his playing days—leading to the breakup of his first marriage, his estrangement from his children, and an egomaniacal approach in the business world, he shares how he ultimately found God. Offensive Conduct is both an inside look at the world of college and pro football in the 1970s and 1980s and a chronicle of the ups and downs of a driven, successful athlete.

The Internet has been romanticized as a zone of freedom. The alluring combination of sophisticated technology with low barriers to entry and instantaneous outreach to millions of users has mesmerized libertarians and communitarians alike. Lawmakers have joined the celebration, passing the Communications Decency Act, which enables Internet Service Providers to allow unregulated discourse without danger of liability, all in the name of enhancing freedom of speech. But an unregulated Internet is a breeding ground for offensive conduct. At last we have a book that begins to focus on abuses made possible by anonymity, freedom from liability, and lack of oversight. The distinguished scholars assembled in this volume, drawn from law and philosophy, connect the absence of legal oversight with harassment and discrimination. Questioning the simplistic notion that abusive speech and mobocracy are the inevitable outcomes of new technology, they argue that current misuse is the outgrowth of social, technological, and legal choices. Seeing this clearly will help us to be better informed about our options. In a field still dominated by a frontier perspective, this book has the potential to be a real game changer. Armed with example after example of harassment in Internet chat rooms and forums, the authors detail some of the vile and hateful speech that the current combination of law and technology has bred. The facts are then treated to analysis and policy prescriptions. Read this book and you will never again see the Internet through rose-colored glasses.

This provocative guide profiles behaviors considered shocking throughout American history, revealing the extent of changing social mores and cultural perceptions of appropriate conduct since the Colonial period. The notion of what is offensive has evolved over time. But what factors dictate decorum and why does it change? This fascinating work delves into the history of "inappropriate" behavior in the United States, providing an in-depth look at what has been considered improper conduct throughout American history—and how it came to be deemed as such. The detailed narrative considers the impact of religion, sexuality, popular culture, technology, and politics on social graces, and it features more than 150 entries on topics considered taboo in American cultural history. Organized alphabetically, topics include abortion, body odors, cannibalism, and voyeurism as well as modern-day examples like dumpster diving, breast feeding in public, and trolling. Each entry defines the behavior in question, provides an historical outline of the offensive behavior, and discusses its current status in American culture. Throughout the book, clear connections between offenses and social values illustrate the symbiotic relationship between popular opinion and acceptable behaviors of the time.

Prohibitions against offensive conduct have existed for many years, but their extent and use was on the decline. Recently, however, several jurisdictions, including England and Wales, have moved to broaden the reach and severity of measures against incivilities. New measures include expanded targeting of unpopular forms of public conduct, such as begging, and legislation authorising magistrates to issue prohibitory orders against anti-social behaviour. Because these quality-of-life prohibitions can be so restrictive of personal liberties, it is essential to develop adequate guiding and limiting principles concerning State intervention in this area. This book addresses the legal regulation of offensive behaviour. Topics include: the nature of offensiveness; the grounds and permissible scope of criminal prohibitions against offensive behaviour; the legitimacy of civil orders against incivilities; and identifying the social trends that have generated current political interest in preventing incivilities through intervention of law. These questions are addressed by eleven distinguished philosophers, criminal law theorists, criminologists, and sociologists. In an area that has attracted much public comment but little theoretical analysis to date, these essays develop a fuller conceptual framework for debating questions about the legal regulation of offensive behaviour.

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

The second volume in Joel Feinberg's series The Moral Limits of the Criminal Law, Offense to Others focuses on the "offense principle," which maintains that preventing shock, disgust, or revulsion is always a morally relevant reason for legal prohibitions. Feinberg clarifies the concept of an "offended mental state" and further contrasts the concept of offense with harm. He also considers the law of nuisance as a model for statutes creating "morals offenses," showing its inadequacy as a model for understanding "profound offenses," and discusses such issues as obscene words and social policy, pornography and the Constitution, and the differences between minor and profound offenses.

Is the government ever justified in restricting offensive speech? This question has become particularly important in relation to communications which offend religious sensibilities. It is often argued that insulting a person's beliefs is tantamount to disrespecting the believer; that insults are a form of hatred or intolerance; that the right to religious freedom includes a more specific right not to be insulted in one's beliefs; that religious minorities have a particularly strong claim to be protected from offence; and that censorship of offensive speech is necessary for the prevention of social disorder and violence. None of those arguments is convincing. Drawing on law and philosophy, this book argues that there is no moral right to be protected from offence and that, while freedom of religion is an important right that grounds negative and positive obligations for the state, it is unpersuasive to interpret constitutional and human rights provisions as including a right not to be caused offence. Rather, we have good reasons to think of public discourse as a space for the expression of all viewpoints about the ethical life, including those which some will find offensive. This is necessary to sustain a society's capacity for self-reflection and change.