Criminal justice and moral issues / Robert F. Meier, Gilbert Geis.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

1. Morality, harm, and criminal justice -- Crimes without victims? -- The notion of harm -- Morality and criminal law -- Suicide and attempted suicide -- Physician-assisted suicide -- Usury -- Bad Samaritans -- Motorcycle helmets -- Determining moral standards -- 2. Prostitution/sex work -- The Biblical heritage -- Criminal law and prostitution -- Explaining the law's intransigence -- Prostitution and sexual liberation -- The cast in the performance of prostitution -- Urban enforcement : Los Angeles -- The BMW caper -- The Hollywood madam -- Licensed brothels : Nevada -- The Wolfenden Report and Kerb crawling -- Feminism and prostitution -- Legalizing prostitution : yeas and nays -- Prostitution, venereal disease, and AIDS -- Other impacts of prostitution -- Prostitutes, pimps, and the public -- The prostitute/sex worker -- Customers/Johns -- Pimps -- Impact of prostitution on society -- Conclusion -- For legalizing prostitution -- Against decriminalizing prostitution -- 3. Drugs -- What is a drug? -- Patterns of drug use -- Illegal drug use : marijuana -- Illegal drug use : heroin -- Illegal drug use : cocaine -- How much do illegal drugs cost? -- The relationship between crime and drugs -- Drug-defined crimes -- Drug-related crimes -- Drug-using crimes -- Current drug policies and how we got there -- Drugs, race, and ethnicity -- The prohibition experience -- Modern legal prohibitions -- The Netherlands' approach to drug control -- What kind of a problem is 'drugs?' -- Decriminalization does not solve the problem of drugs -- Conclusion -- 4. Homosexuality -- Defining homosexuality -- Homosexual behavior -- Homosexual preference or orientation -- Homosexual identity or self-concept -- Causes of homosexuality -- The biological perspective -- The learning perspective -- Public opinion and homosexuality -- The regulation of homosexuality -- The social regulation of sexuality -- Religious and legal regulation of sexuality -- The consequences of legal regulation -- The gay movement and gay communities -- Two additional issues -- Same-sex marriages -- Homosexuality as a protected status -- Conclusion --

5. Abortion -- Theology and abortion -- Roman Catholicism -- Judaism -- Abortion before it became legal -- Roe v. Wade and its progeny -- Roe v. Wade (1973) -- The Webster decision (1989) -- The Casey decision (1992) -- The Partial-Birth Abortion Act (2003) -- Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2004) -- RU-486 (Mifepristone) -- Plan B : The morning after pill -- Parental notification and abortion -- How many abortions are there? -- Abortion views in context -- Arguments : pro and con -- Arguments against legalized abortion -- Arguments for legalized abortion -- Conclusion -- 6. Pornography -- Definitions -- The ubiquity of pornography -- The pornography industry -- The pornography commissions -- Public concern over pornography -- The regulation of pornography -- The law and pornography -- The effects of pornography -- Harmful effects -- Positive effects, or potentially beneficial functions of pornography -- The feminist response to pornography -- Conclusion -- 7. Gambling -- The context of gambling -- Casino gambling -- Slot machines -- Riverboat gambling -- Native-American casinos -- Internet gambling -- Lotteries -- Gambling on numbers -- Lotteries re-emerge -- Off-track betting -- Conclusion -- 8. Conclusion -- Harm, risk, and the law -- Can the law create problems? -- What should we call them? -- The Wolfenden Report -- Are there limits to law? -- Immorality -- Privacy -- Alternative controls -- Harm to others -- Are they enforceable? -- What problems are appropriate for law? -- Conclusion.