Which would you rather have? A guilty man found not guilty of his crime, or an innocent man in jail?
Now with that in mind...
If one twin of a set of conjoined (siamese) twins murdered somebody (and the other had absolutely no part in it, and actually tried to stop it), what should be done? Should they be sent to jail, or should they be free?
The question sounds silly, but it's a serious one. So please, serious answers only please.
2007-03-04 11:26:16 · 15 answers · asked by rickpetralia 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Granted morality is subjective, in my view an innocent man in jail is worse than a guilty man gone free, if only for the philisophical implications.
The siamese twin question is a very good one and there is no clear cut answer. In my opinion prison's primary purpose is seperation from society for the safety of everyone else, so some sort of house arrest that achieves that goal but doesnt put horrible restriction on the other twin may be something to look into.
2007-03-04 11:32:02 · answer #1 · answered by xandercycloptic 1 · 5⤊ 0⤋
An innocent man jailed is DEFINITELY WORSE. I would much rather see many guilty men found not guilty that one innocent one convicted.
As for the siamese twins...WOW! I really hope that situation never occurs because I can't think of a possible equitable answer. But if I had to choose right here and now, I would opt for letting both twins go free, because it would be more wrong to punish the innocent one than to fail to punish the guilty one.
2007-03-04 20:05:39 · answer #2 · answered by Wyoming Rider 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Would YOU like to be in jail? The guilty man was set free because it had to be proved. So in a sense the better of the two is a guilty man free, because it represents a fare trial which is something we Americans should be proud we have. Yea, sometimes the system doesn't work...(OJ) nothing is perfect, and in those kinds of cases it's up to the people who witnessed the crime to come forward. Remember our court system is made up of honest people, it's the dishonest that put a wrench in things.
2007-03-04 20:10:04 · answer #3 · answered by J D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
our country always had the opinion that they had rather see 10 guilty men go free than one innocent man be convicted and imprisoned, and I also believe this , as we all know if the guilty one goes free he will do something else and when he is caught he will pay for all of his crimes,
but, our people today have a different out look , as it seems they had rather see ten innocent men in prison rather than see one guilty go free, I don;t understand this kind of thinking,
but as in Calif, when some boys from Beverly hills got caught up on this gang law that Caif, has the people were really angry, they said quote( I didn't think this law applied to us) hummmmm.
it seems as if our people don't think the laws apply to them as they do to the common man, and if these same ones are ever caught up in this trap they will be the ones who hollar the loudest,
and some think they are holier than tho and could never do any thing wrong,little they know that they break the law every day, and most don't even realize it, and what if they should fit the description of some bank robber or ? in their way of thinking they would go to prison when they have did no wrong, what so many people don't know is that the courts are not honest the prosecutor nor the judge and so many times the wittinesses, some cops and so called leaders in the community, that is why there are so many innocent people in prison today , and we have more people in prison than any country in the world,
Joseph c, I want to commend you for putting this on the post as I have tried to get people to start a campaign to get this into law where the fully informed jurors are invited into the court room to breif the jurors on their duty's , as hardly any judge will charge the jury as it is written, as they merely want convictions guilty or not, it looks good for their record when they run for higher office,
2007-03-04 19:45:35 · answer #4 · answered by james w 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have to agree with the previous entries - it's a much bigger offense for a State of Law to convict an innocent person.
I have never heard of a case like the one you posted, and it would be a serious challenge for any legal system. Most legal systems punish criminal intent, that is, the wish to commit a crime. If there is criminal intent for one of the cojoined twins but not for the other...how do you punish the offender without punishing the innocent twin?
2007-03-04 19:33:51 · answer #5 · answered by maubrenes 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if an innocent man is in jail then that means a guilty man is free, so an innocent man in jail is worse. as for the conjoined twin thing, that is an exceptionaly difficult question....i have absolutly no idea what to tell you.
2007-03-04 19:34:47 · answer #6 · answered by Ashley M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well, i would think it's time to preform surgery and try and save the innocent one's life and make them each 2 people, and send the guilty one to jail. Give the best chance of survival to the good twin.
But, then again, they both had to work together to walk, to kill the man.
How about they both do 1/2 time, cuz they are twins, conjoined, cut them in half, or cut the jail sentence in half.
2007-03-04 19:32:33 · answer #7 · answered by Lilly 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An innocent man in jail is the worse.
Medically separate the twins.
If not possible, give the guilty one a lobotomy.
Jeez, that's a toughie!
2007-03-04 19:34:27 · answer #8 · answered by mike h 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've always heard it said the American Justice system errs on the side of caution. It would prefer to set a guilty person free than to lock up someone who's innocent.
2007-03-04 19:34:01 · answer #9 · answered by cartiphilus 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is better that a hundred guilty men go free than for one innocent man to go to prison. If the innocent are put in prison then there is no reason to obey the very laws that protect us.
This is a great question, and a dilemma, good food for thought, something that is rare to this forum.
2007-03-04 19:30:18 · answer #10 · answered by 007 4 · 7⤊ 0⤋