Editing Harm principle (section)

=== In modern policy ===
The harm principle is also found in recent US case law - in the case of the [https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/4th/27/1161.html People v Alvarez], from the Supreme Court of California, in May, 2002:

{{Blockquote|In every criminal trial, the prosecution must prove the corpus delicti, or the body of the crime itself - i.e., the fact of '''injury, loss, or harm,''' and the existence of a criminal agency as its cause.|}}

The harm principle even found its way into [https://www.akzept.org/pdf/volltexte_pdf/nr23/drogenpo_inter/tnItrends_latam0110.pdf the drug laws of Colombia], in 1994, and again in 2009:

{{Blockquote|In July 2009, the Colombian Supreme Court of Justice reconfirmed the 1994 ruling of the Constitutional Court by determining that the possession of drugs for personal use 'cannot be the object of any punishments,' when the incident occurred 'in the exercise of his personal and private rights, [and] the accused did not harm others.|}}

Even if a self-regarding action results in harm to oneself, it may still be considered beyond the sphere of justifiable state coercion.{{Anchor|The harm principle in US libertarianism}}

==== Libertarianism ====
The belief "that no one should be forcibly prevented from acting in any way he chooses provided his acts are not invasive of the free acts of others" has become one of the basic principles of libertarian politics.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC |title=The Encyclopaedia of Libertarianism |date=2008 |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |isbn=978-1412965804 |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-first=Ronald |location=Thousand Oaks, California |page=xxi}}</ref>

The [[Libertarian Party (United States)|US Libertarian Party]] includes a version of the harm principle as part of its official [[party platform]]. It states:{{Blockquote|Criminal laws should be limited in their application to violations of the rights of others through force or fraud, or to deliberate actions that place others involuntarily at significant risk of harm. Therefore, we favor the repeal of all laws creating “crimes” without victims . . .<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lp.org/platform/|title=2016 Platform|publisher=Libertarian National Committee|year=2016|access-date=25 February 2017}}</ref>}}