Diminished Capacity Quotes
The reference was to the Royal Governor of New York, William Cosby. He was not mentioned by name but the context was very clear that it was he who was being lampooned. The Governor was furious, and had the New York Weekly Journal press burned to the ground. Then the crown prosecuted the publisher, Peter Zenger. This was one of the most famous trials in American history. Although it was clear that the existing law against defamation had been violated, the jury of New York colonists acquitted Zenger. To this day prosecutors in England and America are very worried about what has been called “jury nullification” of the law, and every state except Maryland has strung laws making it difficult if not impossible for a defense attorney to even suggest that the jury should quit because the law is wanting or unjust. The 1st Amendment was very much influences by the Zenger case.
The general was a delegate to the 28th Communist Party Congress in 1990.
In some societies, drunkenness is an extenuating circumstance which diminishes moral and legal guilt. In others it is not. In the United States is sometimes is and sometimes is not. Generally, a drunk person will not be relieved of all guilt but often the charge will be lessened—for example from murder to manslaughter. Aristotle suggested, and in some Islamic countries it is observed that the person who commits a crime while drunk is punished twice—once for the crime and once for being drunk.
