An ethical question:
As a society, we often punish crimes committed with the same amount of malice differently depending on the severity of the consequences. For example, attempted-murder convicts are usually given lighter sentences than actual murderers, even if this is because they are just bad at aiming a pistol.
One of the first mistakes I made when I was 16 and a new driver was running a stop sign that I just didn't see. There were no cars coming, though, so thankfully there was no accident. Had a cop seen me, the most I would have received was a ticket.
Yet I read in the paper about a man who made the same mistake. He was completely sober and alert, but just missed the stop sign. A minivan slammed into his car, and two of its passengers were killed. He was facing jail time for vehicular manslaughter.
We both made the same mistake and are similarly culpable. Why are the punishments not the same? Why should fortune and chance to factor in our criminal punishments?
2006-07-28
20:47:51
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8 answers
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asked by
athedge
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in
Philosophy