The presumption of innocence, errant
Saturday, 14 November 2009 by Mike Gogulskicrime | 25 Comments »
It is one of the greatest aspects of legal systems derived from the English common law that a defendant should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. The presumption of innocence is a massive check on state power, especially when combined ...
Against privilege
Friday, 22 May 2009 by Mike Gogulskiphilosophy | 3 Comments »
Extracted from a Facebook conversation: In the sociopolitical sphere, what I find myself drawn to the most is the idea that we ought to reject any sort of institutionalized privilege: king over subject, collective over individual, priest over congregation, man over ...
Fake solidarity; false choice
Friday, 1 May 2009 by Mike Gogulskimind control, politics | 6 Comments »
If you sat down in a nice-looking, ostensibly respectable restaurant and opened the menu to find that only bullshit, horseshit and dogshit were on offer, which would you choose? Or would you choose not to eat there at all? [caption id="attachment_1779" align="aligncenter" ...
On becoming a libertarian leftist
Sunday, 5 October 2008 by Mike Gogulskiphilosophy | 6 Comments »
It's ridiculous to talk about what "the government" might do when facing the challenge of a big situation X like the bailout, like the wars, like anything at the grand policy level. What makes sense, rather, is to consider the ...
42 days: UK accelerates slide into police state
Thursday, 12 June 2008 by Mike Gogulskipolice, politics, prison, surveillance | 3 Comments »
It is a principle of English common law that if the State is to arrest someone, it must charge them with a crime in relatively short order, or release them. It is known as the habeas corpus doctrine, and has ...
