A Man For All Seasons - Giving the Devil the Benefit of Law
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN uses the scene to argue for due process and for protecting the speech and rights of people you dislike.
What it is
A one-minute clip from the 1966 film A Man for All Seasons. Thomas More refuses to arrest the Devil, saying he would give even the Devil the benefit of law for his own safety's sake.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2018 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Recommends pseudolus · 2023-01 · on “How Police Exploited the Capitol Riot’s Digital Records”
If violating or diminishing constitutional rights for the purpose of obtaining a prosecution is on the table then there's not really much to the constitutional order to begin with. Robert Bolt, one of the great playwrights of the 20th century, recognized this in "A Man for All Seasons". There's a brief excerpt of the film on Youtube that resonates particularly well today: [this video]
Cites tankenmate · 2018-02 · on “Google AMP Is a Threat to the Open Web”
If nobody cares about the businesses at the other end then one day you'll wake up to find that the only business left on the other side is Google, and then where will you turn? Roper: So now you'd give the Devil benefit of law! More: Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? Roper: I'd cut down every law in England to do that! More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you — where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast — man's laws, not God's — and if you cut them down — and you're just the man to do it — d'you really think you could stand upright in the win
Cites someguydave · 2018-10 · on “Gab.com Booted from Hosting Provider Due to User Account”
1. Isn’t viewing someone as “beyond the pale” such that they deserve summary punishment and/or execution dehumanizing? How is that different than the guy who tortured small animals because he views them as objects and not living things? 2. Even those libertarians would give murderers and rapists benefit of a court of law where they can explain themselves. Consider this video: [this video]
Cites llm_trw · 2024-10 · on “EU: Definition of "potential terrorists" opens door to broad information-sharing”
To quote some of the people I know who would be impacted the most by this: > Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences. If they'd not spend the last 10 years purging the old guard who they called free speech fanatics they'd have someone in their corner. Now I just have the world tiniest violin for them. Or to use much better words than mine: [this video]