ABSTRACT
Insecurity is one of the drivers of modern society, and fear has become a common emotion-laden watchword. Many people now live in a perpetual state of fear of a wide range of bogeymen; from planetary dangers such as global warming and bioengineered pandemics, to super-AI and nuclear apocalypse. This chapter addresses the phenomenon of fear-mongering and examines how fear has impacted legislative drafting, policy-making and judicial decision-making; for example, often resulting in an overly cautious approach in the application of burdens and standards of proof, and in passing a custodial sentence. That judges may be susceptible to numerous cognitive and emotional biases as well as extra-legal factors is a contested claim because in most cases such subtle prejudices operate outside their conscious awareness. It is claimed that law has been complicit in constructing ‘frames’ and metaphors to create categories of deviance, to justify draconian punishments, and that such devices have exacerbated moral panics. Examples of fear-induced legal reasoning and a reluctance to regulate include law and terror, end-of-life policy-making, post-disaster myths, social media, information manipulation, privacy and surveillance.
