Saturday, October 31, 2009

Would you support "preemptive justice" like in Minority Report?

In the movie Minority Report, crimes are predicted and and the perpetrators apprehended before the crime is commited. German researchers have been using MRIs to read people's thoughts http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,2566... One natural application would be law enforcement. Would you support the idea of preemptive law enforcement?
Answer:
No, because thinking is not a crime. The closest thing we have is conspiracy crimes. Those are the ones where a few people think about, plan, and move towards committing some crime, but don't actually manage to pull it off, for whatever reason.

With any crime, even a conspiracy charge, the person must commit some overt act towards that crime to be charged. It is even written into most conspiracy charges that a person can make some act to stop whatever crime that was being planned and not be guilty of it.

Think of it this way: Bob really hates his next door neighbor. They are always arguing over the fence about property disputes, loud noises, nuisance pets, etc. Bob thinks one day, "Ya know, my life would be so much easier if I killed that idiot." Is this a crime? No. Many people have such thoughts. Well, what if Bob is out back cutting limbs with his chainsaw, and thinks, "This would take that guy's head right off." Is that a crime? Again, no. What if Bob takes the chainsaw, walks over towards his neighbor's house thinking, "I'm gonna get him this time."? Has he committed a crime yet? Would you want him arrested for a murder he hasn't committed yet? Bob knocks on the door, waiting for the neighbor so he can "get him". Any crime yet? But, as he's waiting, he starts thinking about the neighbors wife and kids and what they would feel like without him. When the neighbor opens the door, Bob has already set the chainsaw down out of sight. The neighbor says, "What is it, Bob?" Bob looks up and says, "I've been thinking. This constant fighting is stupid. I'm sorry I'm so difficult sometimes." Did Bob ever commit a crime? Not really. He almost did, but in the end, he didn't.

That's the problem with thought crimes. Human beings minds are so complex. People change their minds at the last minute all the time. About committing crime, breaking rules, what to wear, what to watch, what to eat. From the big things all the way down to the little things, thoughts are ever flowing and changing.

How could you justify charging somebody for something they haven't done yet, and maybe never would have? That's why conspiracy laws require an overt act. There must be some action that took it beyond just thinking about the crime. And even then, conspiracy charges carry lesser sentences and punishments than if they actually committed the full crime. And they're danged hard to prove, too.

The only place we have true freedom is in our own thoughts. I'd personally like to keep it that way.
No. If a mistake is made an innocent person could be sent to jail or worse in some states.

Plus, I dont much like the idea of people reading my thoughts thank you very much.

I enjoy what privacy I have, and one of the foundations of freedom is individual privacy.
Absolutely not. There is no such thing as "preemptive justice". It's a ridiculous theory that is filled with many holes.
YES. We should totally nail people when they are still innocent! No more daydreams! No more fiction writing! Hey the United States already has the most people behind bars of any industrialized nation, including the retarded and children, why stop now!?
....yes that would be cool except you would violate every civil rights our "grandfathers" fought for...........sorry my bad
no, thats not right, eveyone has had thoughts that they would like to harm others or steal, ect. but you dont act on them.... if we did that everyone would be in jail

btw dont listen to fox news. they hype things like this to get you scared.
We are hear only for people Of Bangladesh.......................

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