Just Broke: Turing Given Royal Pardon!

[ChillDoubt]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25495315

Not before time!

[emmie]

ludwig, i have known many homosexuals and they only wanted to be themselves, get on with their lives, to love who they wanted without the law come crashing down on their heads. Now the laws have been changed, and not before time

[RATTER15]

ludwig, I may be wrong but I think his family will appreciate the royal pardon.

[RATTER15]

I agree that a royal apology should also be offered but I think the pardon is halfway there, better than nothing I suppose.

[anotheoldgit]

mikey4444

/// Thousands of men were enthusiastically prosecuted by the Police, ///

It is not the Police's job to prosecute, that is the job for the Crown Prosecuting Service.

[emmie]

they had to be caught first AOG, and it was well known that police staked out haunts of homosexual men, as they had to catch them in the act of what was called solicitation. and that was the police role.

[emmie]

how long has the CPS been in operation, anyone know?

[andy-hughes]

Ratter - "Andy, comparing what Turing did to what Saville did is wrong in itself, Turings crime was loving another consenting adult with no victims whatsoever, very different to Saville!"

I couldn't agree more - which is why that is not what I said.

My point is not that Turing and Saville are similar in terms of their actions.

I merely put forward this proposition -

if Turing is to be pardoned from his crime, of which he was convicted by the law of the land at the time, on the basis of his contribution to society, then Saville, as yet unconvicted except by the media, should be similarly re-assessed on the basis of his tireless work for charity.

My point is - if you start re-assessing one convicted individual, it is only fair that you re-assess at least one other unconvicted individual, if we are using good for society as a yardstick.

The fault lies with the notion of 'pardoning' a criminal in the first place - leave that alone, and uncomfortable anomalies like Saville do not arise.

[anotheoldgit]

I wonder if now fallen celebrities will be given a Royal Pardon, if in the future the age of consent is lowered?

[emmie]

no they won't,

[emmie]

because there is a massive difference between a man who sexually grooms young children, then abuses them in all manner of ways, to one who was a adult having a relationship with another adult who happened to be of the same gender,.

[DTCwordfan]

And how many of the police were bumboys? Ten per cent? Fifteen per cent? Pure hypocrisy of it back then and, excuse the pun, how much back covering was there within the force to protect their own?

I agree with Naomi and others, if anything was to be offered a profuse apology - and perhaps a blanket pardon for what is, essentially, a non-crime.

[RATTER15]

DTC, agreed!!

[andy-hughes]

"And how many of the police were bumboys?"

Political correctness is alive and well on the Answerbank!!

[Zacs-Master]

Andy //My point is - if you start re-assessing one convicted individual, it is only fair that you re-assess at least one other unconvicted individual, if we are using good for society as a yardstick.//
You cannot compare consensual sex between adults to the forced perverted actions of someone upon minors or even non consensual adults, whether they've done good or not.

[anotheoldgit]

/// the role played by Turing in defeating fascism and tyranny and the defence of these Isles and his subsequent shocking treatment stood him out as an icon for the gay community ///

What is all this talk about Turing being an icon for the gay community?

Why must they have icons, what is it supposed to prove, that even if one is a homosexual, one can still attain certain things?

Isn't that being all rather patronising towards homosexuals?

[seadogg]

Given the climate of public opinion at that time, his conviction was inevitable. He is above royal pardons in my opinion. His work stands alone in the development of technology. As a radio amateur I have worked signals from an enigma machine and know how awesome it was.

[DTCwordfan]

Absolutely, andy; the term makes the point about the hypocrisy involved.

[ChillDoubt]

Andy,
Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1967. I've a feeling paedophilia will remain on the statute book for the next few centuries at the very least.

[Zacs-Master]

And if you can't see that^^^^ Andy then I feel sorry (and a little sickened) by your comments.

[jno]

andy, I think most people (though obviously not all) feel what we got wrong with Turing, and many others, was prosecuting him.

What we got wrong with Savile was not prosecuting him.

We needn't address diametrically different mistakes with the same response.