Turing's Pardon Refused

[anteros_lmc]

Sorry, I know three posts in one day is a bit excessive, but this makes me so mad. The House of Lords has dismissed the possibility of pardoning Alan Turing for his 1952 conviction for gross indecency.

According to the Guardian:

...the justice minister Lord McNally used the precedent argument to discourage the notion in the House of Lords.

Asked by the Liberal Democrat Lord Sharkey whether a pardon would be considered, to mark this year's centenary of Turing's birth which is the subject of international scientific celebrations, he told peers:

"The question of granting a posthumous pardon to Mr Turing was considered by the previous Government in 2009.

As a result of the previous campaign, the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued an unequivocal posthumous apology to Mr Turing on behalf of the Government, describing his treatment as "horrifying" and "utterly unfair". Mr Brown said the country owed him a huge debt. This apology was also shown at the end of the Channel 4 documentary celebrating Mr Turing's life and achievements which was broadcast on 21 November 2011.

A posthumous pardon was not considered appropriate as Alan Turing was properly convicted of what at the time was a criminal offence. He would have known that his offence was against the law and that he would be prosecuted.
It is tragic that Alan Turing was convicted of an offence which now seems both cruel and absurd-particularly poignant given his outstanding contribution to the war effort. However, the law at the time required a prosecution and, as such, long-standing policy has been to accept that such convictions took place and, rather than trying to alter the historical context and to put right what cannot be put right, ensure instead that we never again return to those times."

I signed that petition that resulted in the paltry "apology" in 2009 and I'll continue signing petitions and blogging about the injustice of Turing's conviction until he receives the pardon he deserves. And if pardoning Turing set a "precedent" that results in pardoning all those who were convicted under these iniquitous laws, then so much the better. If you are from the UK and you haven't already signed the petition you can find it here.

Comments

[esmerelda-t.livejournal.com]

It's a bit like saying 'well we musn't grumble about the Romans feeding Christians to the Lions, after all, at the time it was the done thing!" What tosh.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

It's bollocks isn't it?

[esmerelda-t.livejournal.com]

It's the same rubbish they come out with as to why they wont pardon men shot for shell shock, 'because that will be admitting the authorities of the day were wrong'. Erm, they were.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Of course they were wrong. And it's about bloody time they admitted it.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

Governments seem to find it extraordinarily hard to admit that laws passed by previous governments were wrong. It wasn't until 2005 that Austria issued a pardon to those soldiers who had been shot for desertion during World War 2 (and you'd think that would be a cast iron case of a pardon being appropriate, seeing as everyone is now agreed that the Nazis were a Bad Thing). I'm all in favour of making the Establishment admit that sometimes even laws can be wrong - it might even make them think twice about the justice of the laws they themselves pass.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Hear hear! I couldn't agree more.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I'm inclined to think that everyone convicted under this law should be pardoned and if the campaign to pardon Turing brings that about, so much the better.

I suspect we may have to agree to disagree though :}

[aletheiafelinea.livejournal.com]

everyone convicted under this law should be pardoned
Seconded. Hero or not, that's not the point here. The point is that he was wronged by the law. People were also lawfully condemned for being Jews, claiming that the Earth circles the Sun, or that gods are people's imagination, but these old laws don't stop us from raising monuments for their victims' memory.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Indeed. And very eloquently put if I may say so.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I believe my icon says it all.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I concur with Professor Snape.