CHANGE URGED IN SEX LAWS

ROMAN CATHOLIC PROPOSAL

DAILY TELEGRAPH REPORTER

A report of a Roman Catholic committee commissioned by the late

Cardinal Griffin to make recommendations to the Home Office departmental committee now examining the law on homosexual offences and prostitution proposes an amendment of the criminal law.

Consensual acts done in private. by adult males should be excluded. says the committee. But it recommends the retention "to the full extent" of penal sanctions to restrain offences against minors, offences against public decency, and exploitation of vice for the purpose of gain.

The report adds: "The existing law does not effectively distinguish between sin, which is a matter of private morals, and crime, which is an offence against the State, having anti-social consequences.

"In matters of sex this distinction may not always be easy to draw, but it is certainly ignored by Section II of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, which, for the first time, imposed penal sanctions in respect of acts of gross indecency done by adult consenting males in private.

MINORITY OF OFFENDERS "Under the existing law criminal proceedings against adult male persons in respect of consensual homosexual acts in private inevitably fall upon a small minority of offenders and often upon those least deserving of punishment." The committee reaches these conclusions:

1. imprisonment is largely ineffectual to reorientate persons with homosexual tendencies and usually has a deleterious effect on them; and 2, a satisfactory solution of the problem is not likely to be found in places of confinement exclusively reserved for homosexuals.

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No positive recommendation therefore, made as to the method of detention.

The committee, whose report is unanimous, accepts the use, under medical supervision, of drugs to suppress sexual desire and activity, with the consent of the patient. It holds that such treatment is permissible where serious pathological

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LONDON, England: Jan. 10, 1956

conditions obtain and when other remédies have failed

PROTECTION OF WOMEN

On prostitution "no particular recommendations are made. "From the point of view of moral theology the same principles apply as in connection with homosexuality; the distinction between sin and crime is equally valid regarding prostitution." The State had a duty to protect women from exploitation and to preserve public order.

"We do, however, suggest that the existing practice of what may be called automatic prosecution for solicitation and importuning followed and by trivial fines serves no useful purpose and is indefensible on any grounds, and should be discontinued.

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"Prosecutions should not be initiated except in cases where satisfactory evidence is available to establish the charge. In such cases, the courts should be empowered to inflict suitable penalties, including the power to make probation orders where it is desirable, with or without a condition of residence."

Commenting on these recommendations, the committee states that while every sympathy must be shown towards homosexual persons, they must not be led to believe that they are doing no wrong. It is not the business of the State to intervene in the purely private sphere, but to act solely as defender of the common good.

STATE INTERVENTION "Morally, evil things so far as they do not affect the common good are not the concern of the human legislator. Attempts by the State to enlarge its authority and invade the individual conscience, however highminded, always fail and frequently do positive harm.

"It should accordingly be clearly stated that penal sanctions are not justified for the purpose of attempting to restrain sins against sexual morality committed in private by responsible adults."

Such sanctions involve severities out of proportion to the offence committed. They undoubtedly give scope for blackmail and other forms of corruption. The members of the committee were:

Mgr. G. A. TOMLINSON, chairman. chaplain to London University Roman Catholic students: Prof. J. McDONALD. St. Edmund's College. Ware: Rev. JOHN PREEDY, Englefield Green, Surrey: Mr. B. S. MCFIE. psychiatric social worker: Mr. C. M. JENNER. probation officer: Dr. E. B. STRAUSS. psychiatrist: and Mr RICHARD ELWES, Q.C.. Recorder of Northampton.

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