COLOURFUL attorney-at-law, Queen’s Counsel KD Knight has described the act of stealing, specifically the illegal picking of ackees from the Governor General’s residence, King’s House as an act that should not be condoned.

Knight believes though, that the sentence of three months in prison for the offender, may have been harsh, adding that justice may have been tempered with mercy.

At the same time, Knight, who was addressing Kingston College Old Boys at their annual dinner in St Andrew recently, said that lying was also a sin that the society as a whole should not tolerate.

Speaking against the background of the theme, ‘Standing up for what is Right’, Knight, an Opposition Senator, said that people should always stand up for what is right based upon the laws of the land and the principles involved.

“I decided to speak on the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips enquiry, but after five minutes into the preparation, I discovered that there was so much I could not recall, so I abandoned that idea,” Knight said to rousing applause from the all-male audience.

“How do we determine what is right? Who makes that determination, Knight asked.

“Some people, perhaps too many, have a tendency to let expediency govern their behaviour. Principles, on the other hand, are too ephemeral. There is a willingness to sacrifice those principles on the altar of expediency and then seek consolation by finding the most spurious excuses to justify wrongdoing.

“Human beings were meant to live by principles. At the very least, those of us who have any religious affiliation think so. If I had the wherewithal, I would print some bumper stickers with the words ‘I stand up for what is right’ and distribute them to motorists. I would also print

T-shirts with the same words. This would be my way of getting into the psyche of our people that standing up for what is right is a part of the process of building up a just society. If we do not stand up for what is objectively right, the ethical foundation on which our lives and the society is founded will crumble,” Knight said.

Speaking specifically to the controversial arrest and conviction of the man who was found picking ackees at King’s House weeks ago, Knight said that the action itself should be condemned, although it would appear to some that the matter was a simple one.

“One of my favourite philosophers is the German Immanuel Kant, and in preparing this presentation, I was moved to have a look at what is termed Kantian ethics.

“Kant is really famous for his works in epistemology and metaphysics, yet strangely enough he believed that ethics was the most important subject in philosophy. Kant described as the categorical imperative ‘act only on that maxim whereby thou canst at the same time will that it should become a universal law’.

“This has been interpreted to mean that a person ‘should always act as if every action were to become a universal law. Thus no man should steal because if he were to steal and if everyone were to steal, if stealing should become a general rule, and were no longer outlawed, then moral relations based upon the possession of private property would become impossible.

“Similarly, with regard to telling lies, one should never lie, since if lying were to become a universal law, all human relations based upon trust and the keeping of promises would become impossible.

“This interpretation is relevant to two topical issues, the King’s House ackee theft and the ‘I can’t recall’ saga. Persons in our society sometimes justify wrongdoing and in particular stealing, by reference to the destitute state of some of our citizens.

“There is the recent matter of the man who stole 45 pods of ackee (valued at $350) from King’s House premises. Two assaults have been rained on the arrest conviction and sentence imposed.

“It cannot be right to steal. If a number of destitute persons descended upon King’s House premises to steal ackees or anything else, in standing up for these persons can you possibly be standing up for what is right? I would think not.

“Suppose they descended upon your premises, what would be your position then?

“In relation to the sentence, that is a different matter. That is the exercise of discretion and there it could be said that on the face of it the sentence of three months at hard labour was excessive.

“If we are to stand up for what is right in the latter situation it is that it is right that justice be tempered with mercy. If those who are elected to represent us lie to us, isn’t it right that we should demand their removal. And if their associates refrain from distancing themselves from the proven mendacious ones, pathological or not, can we trust them,” he said.

Knight, the guest speaker at the function, said that standing up for what is right involves taking a principled position to uphold ideals of equity, decency, honesty and integrity. “There are the traditional values which hold a family, a community, a country together. These are the values that should determine human behaviour in whatever endeavour one is involved in. These values start at the individual level. We must be prepared to stand up to ensure that they are not violated.

“In standing up for what is right, one may have to stand alone, risk unpopularity, confront the establishment ‘rock the boat’, disrupt the status quo or even sacrifice one’s freedom. Few of us are prepared to do that.

“The individuals who have done so have brought about turning points in history. In our lifetime we can easily point to Martin Luther King Jr, who took on the establishment in the United States of America and Nelson Mandela in South Africa.

“As much as I am not moved by the sound of this instrument, allow me to say each was prepared to ‘bell the cat.’ But then again, maybe I should remind myself that in most instances that sound signals danger, whilst the sweet sound of the trumpet causes us to awake from our slumber and answer the call.

“Gentlemen, standing up for what is right has its pitfalls, but you must represent the brave in confronting opposition you may fall, but you will never yield,” Knight said.

The KC Old Boys Association honoured former school principal, Old Boy, retired Bishop of New York and now rector of the Kingston Parish Church, E Don Taylor; and former president of the New York chapter of association Robert Kelly;

and, while making veteran attorney-at-law K Churchill Neita and sports administrator Neville “Teddy” McCook life members of the organisation.