Talking about ‘free choice’ while avoiding the term ‘free choice’
Defence attorneys will often say: | |||||
Defence | Plaintiff | FS | MWR | Example | |
quit smoking | 3410 | 435 | 0.13 | 0.07 | “You heard the evidence that over 60 million people have quit smoking.”72
“And she quit smoking in 1996. And she did not go back. She did not relapse.”50 |
motivated | 487 | 114 | 0.20 | 0.27 | “Was he himself truly motivated to quit during the history of his smoking?”73 |
enjoyed smoking | 307 | 50 | 0.14 | 0.29 | “He enjoyed smoking. He knew the risks. He made an adult choice.”74 |
had the ability to quit | 241 | 2 | 0.01 | 0.23 | “Ms. Lennox had the ability to quit smoking whenever she was truly motivated to do so”75 |
did not want to quit | 215 | 16 | 0.07 | 0.34 | “She simply did not want to quit smoking until it was too late to avoid her lung cancer and her COPD.”76 |
Plaintiffs’ attorneys will often say: | |||||
free choice | 32 | 450 | 0.94 | 0.86 | “Once addicted, it is no longer an unconstrained free choice for the smoker because of the physiological and psychological need for cigarettes containing nicotine.”77 |