Mill and Stephen

While Stephen and Mill overlap on the idea that the law should prevent harm to other people, Stephen extends this idea further.  Stephen considers morality in his thinking regarding the law.  Therefore believes that the law should prevent actions that are considered ethically wrong.  For this reason, he considers the public opinion important in deciding what is right and wrong and the standards of morality.  I agree with Stephen when he says, “… both law and public opinion do in many cases exercise a powerful coercive influence on morals… If this is so, I say law and public opinion do well...”  While the law formally punishes certain actions, it does not punish all actions that the public might consider morally wrong.  Therefore, I think public opinion is important in creating laws and setting a standard for what is unacceptable, and in punishing those actions that the law cannot punish.  For example, in the case of Casey Anthony, although she was not found guilty of the murder of her daughter, many Americans believe that she is guilty, and she has become somewhat of a public enemy.   

That point being made, Mill expresses that public opinion can be unreliable because the minority opinion is often lost and the majority opinion might not be right or true.  I disagree with this idea because I believe that through discussing public opinions the true, right opinion can be found.  Does Mill think that public opinion should be completely disregarded in society, or solely in the creations of law and punishment?