“Theoretically a crime committed in the interest of the criminal is a common law crime, while an offense committed in the public interest is a political crime.” He says further, “That an act isolated from the circumstances under which it was committed . . . may have the appearance of a common law crime . . : while viewed in connection with the circumstances under which it is committed (in connection with a movement) . . . it may take on a political character.”
Maurice Parmelee:[1]
[1] “Criminology” by Maurice Parmelee, Chap. XXVIII. Author also of “Poverty and Social Progress,” “The Science of Human Behavior,” “The Principles of Anthropology and Sociology in their relation to Criminal Procedure.” During the late war Dr. Parmelee was a Representative of the U. S. War Trade Board stationed at the American Embassy, London; economic advisor to the State Department, and Chairman of the Allied Rationing Committee which administered the German Blockade.
“Common crimes are acts contrary to the law committed in the interest of the individual criminal or of those personally related to the criminal. Political crimes are acts contrary to the law committed against an existing government or form of government in the interest of another government or form of government . . . . .
“Furthermore, there are other offenses against the law which are not common crimes, and yet are not political crimes in the usual criminological sense . . . .
“Among these crimes, which are broader than the ordinary political crimes, are offenses in defense of the right to freedom of thought and belief, in defense of the right to express one’s self in words in free speech, . . . and many illegal acts committed by conscientious objectors to the payment of taxes or to military service, the offenses of laborers in strikes and other labor disturbances, the violations of law committed by those who are trying to bring about changes in the relations between the sexes, etc.
“Common crimes are almost invariably anti-social in their nature, while offenses which are directly or indirectly political are usually social in their intent, and are frequently beneficial to society in their ultimate effect. We are, therefore, justified in calling them social crimes, as contrasted with the anti-social common crimes . . . . .”
TREATMENT ACCORDED POLITICAL PRISONFRS ABROAD
It is interesting to note what other countries have done toward handling intelligently the problem of political offenders.
Russia was probably the first country in modern history to recognize political prisoners as a class,[1] although the treatment of different groups and individuals varied widely.