Gardner on Legal Reasoning

In Chapters 2, 3 and 7 of his new book, Law as a Leap of Faith, John Gardner provides the elements of an account of legal reasoning. It is on the basis of this account that Gardner defends or supports some of the most important theses of his book, viz. theses pertaining to how law can be made, to the relation between law and morality, and to the legitimacy of judicial law-making. A central element of Gardner’s account is a distinction (suggested originally by Joseph Raz) between two forms of legal reasoning, namely, reasoning about the law and reasoning according to law. In this paper I intend to describe and evaluate Gardner’s account. Among the critical remarks that will appear in the paper is the claim that Gardner’s concept of reasoning according to law is overly inclusive.     

Gardner on the Philosophy of Criminal Law

Offences and Defences is an outstanding collection of elevenof John Gardner's previously published papers in the philosophyof criminal law. I briefly examine his views on five centralissues: his claims about basic responsibility and whether itshould be construed as relational; his positions on agent neutrality;his arguments about whether moral and criminal wrongs are typicallystrict; his thoughts about the structure of defences, and, finally,what his account of rape reveals about the content of the harmprinciple.     

Sudden death from hyponatremia and hypokalemia in a woman with Gardner syndrome.

The authors present the case of a 39-year-old woman with Gardner syndrome who died from marked hyponatremia and hypokalemia. Gardner syndrome is a rare variant of the familial adenomatous polyposis syndrome in which the affected individual develops thousands of polyps within the gastrointestinal tract, with a 100% risk of eventual malignant change. Individuals with Gardner syndrome also develop a variety of extra gastrointestinal abnormalities. In the case presented, a woman with a clinical history of Gardner syndrome who had previously undergone a total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis presented to the hospital with a recent history of sore throat, fever, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. The symptoms were considered clinically to be due to a viral gastroenteritis. She was admitted to the hospital, where she had episodes of collapse believed to be vasovagal in origin. She suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest and died 24 hours after admission. After her death, electrolyte estimation performed on blood taken shortly before death revealed severe hyponatremia and hypokalemia. Postmortem examination showed the gastric mucosa to be virtually covered by innumerable adenomatous and hyperplastic polyps. Fewer polyps were seen within the small bowel. There was no evidence of malignancy. The features were consistent with Gardner syndrome. Hyponatremia and hypokalemia have been described in patients with villous adenomas and in familial adenomatous polyposis syndromes associated with numerous colonic polyps. The cause of death in this case was considered to be hyponatremia and hypokalemia associated with florid gastric polyps in a woman with Gardner syndrome. Viral gastroenteritis contributed to the death by causing further electrolyte depletion. To the best of the authors' knowledge, death in Gardner syndrome has not been described as attributable to such metabolic disturbance, in particular in those who have only gastric, small bowel, and rectal polyps remaining after total colectomy.     

Shame on you,John! Laws,stigmatization, and the demand for sex

The present article contributes to the literature on prostitution by shedding light on the effects of the criminalization of buying sex on the amount of prostitution bought, as well as on the proposed theoretical mechanisms underlying this change. We find indications that criminalizing the buying of sex may decrease the quantity of sex bought. While we find that stigma influences the demand for sex, we do not find that stigma increases as a result of the law. Therefore, the possible reduced quantity of sex bought is probably due to the more direct risk of getting caught.     

Gardner; Re BWV: resolved and unresolved issues at end of life

The Medical Treatment Act 1988 (Vic) gives statutory recognition to a patient's (or their agent or guardian if incompetent) right to refuse medical treatment. The case of Gardner; Re BWV confirmed that medical treatment as defined under the Act included artificial nutrition and hydration and as such could be withdrawn, notwithstanding that this would result in the patient's death. This article analyses Gardner; Re BWV and argues that, by deliberately dealing narrowly with the issues at hand, both the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal at first instance and the Victorian Supreme Court knowingly left BWV to die from dehydration over a period of weeks. By not addressing these issues, the tribunal, and more particularly the Supreme Court, lost an opportunity for a reform of the law, so urgently needed at end of life, which would have allowed for "mercy killing", thus sparing BWV and her family the lingering death she was given.