...and straight after bangs his head on a wall genuinely losing his memory and all sense of his identity- to the point where he is shocked to have found out that people actually GET MURDERED, should he be punished for this crime? Should there be any retribution?
2007-12-27 15:22:44 · 7 answers · asked by bob 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
lol no it did not happen to me.. i just think its an interesting question because it questions responsibility, after all- this is effectively a different person.. why should he/she be punished?
2007-12-27 15:37:05 · update #1
a jurisprudent take on this would be very interesting...
2007-12-27 15:39:23 · update #2
The system of justice set up in the country for crimes of passion, be they intentional or not, is for a proper redress of grievance. It is for the victim that punishment is required. Without some form of accepted social redress, society would revert to a vigilante state. To fore go punishment is to deny justice to the victim. Having said all that, there is enough latitude in punishing guidelines to keep the onus of the burden from being to great to bear. Extenuating circumstances and all that rot.
2007-12-27 16:21:32 · answer #1 · answered by ? 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well if you can pass a lie detector test and have doctors confirm the brain damage, and there is absolutely no question what so ever that you have absolutely no recollection of the crime or event leading up to it, or even the victim. Then I would say there really shouldn't be much of a punishment if there is one at all.
I think you'd also have to take into account the circumstances of the murder. Was it a case of killing someone in rage, or can it be proven that it was premeditated. If you can prove that it's premeditated then you could possibly say the person has a predisposition to be capable of murder and therefore needs to be monitered.
The other thing to think to note is that there can't be proof that the criminal did this to himself on purpose. Like say you took some ruphies right before a murder or something. Or got really really drunk and don't recall it.
The whole point of punishing someone is that they learn their lesson. If they don't understand that they did anything wrong then it's pointless. It's like spanking a dog for peeing on the carpet an hour after he did it. The dog doesn't understand why he's being punished so it won't teach him anything.
Really I think the best way to answer this question is to ask, should Jason Bourne go to prison for all the people he assasinated before he lost his memory? What about after he got his memory back?
Granted Bourne is slightly different because he was ordered to kill before, but he also murdered an innocent woman he wasn't told to kill in order cover up another murder.
It's an interesting question either way. But what it boils down to is there are two requirements for being evil. One you have to know that what you are doing is wrong, and second you have to do it. It's hard to say if a person with amnesia falls into either of those categories.
2007-12-28 00:08:17 · answer #2 · answered by Batman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Great imaginative question on jurisprudence!!
The whole idea of confinement or greater punishments is to ensure the criminal gets no further opportunity to commit similar crimes again.............. in the hypothetical case you mention, the criminal is already so reformed due to the head injury that he is no longer more likely than other people to commit similar crimes... and hence there would be no purpose served by putting him through confinement or greater punishments.
2007-12-28 00:05:04 · answer #3 · answered by small 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes. If the body did it....the time should follow....this goes for MPD, or Dissociative Identity Disorder as well!
2007-12-27 23:32:27 · answer #4 · answered by raisedbycoyotes 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
well if they can prove u did it yes you will be imprisoned.losing your memory wont get you out of this it will actually make your case weak coz you cant tell what happened.so if i were YOU 'hypothetically' i would start running
2007-12-27 23:36:22 · answer #5 · answered by kitty 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
So, hypothetically speaking, is this man you?
2007-12-27 23:30:33 · answer #6 · answered by Rock It Out =] 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes it was premeditated so they are liable period.
2007-12-27 23:30:56 · answer #7 · answered by milton b 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋