I'm not asking about the credibility of jury verdicts. Assume the prisoners weren't even given trials; the paperwork was forged; whatever. The hypothetical situation is one where we know (absolutely, without a doubt) that X% of prisoners were innocent. So, for instance, if we knew that 1,000,000 out of every 1,000,001 prisoners were definitely innocent, would you still think retrial were the best option? If so, then I reckon your answer is still 100%. If not, then what is your answer?
If one man steals a car its theft, if two men steal a car it's theft, if a million men steal a car it's democratic taxation, how many men does it take before it's not theft? If I have a million grains of sand in a heap and I remove one, it's still a heap, if I remove another, still a heap, if I remove all but one is it still a heap of one, at what point did it stop being a heap?
Look, I appreciate thought experiments but this one is easy, we have courts that if this was the case could easily deal with it, president's and governors have the right to pardon people, commute sentences, etc... convictions can be overturned even when a sentence is already served. We have a perfectly functional system that could deal with that. Is the conviction based on a piece of evidence now known to be forged? Yes? Overturned, done.
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
- Albert Einstein
King of Cairhien 20-7-2
Chancellor of the Landsraad, Archduke of Is'Mod
- Albert Einstein
King of Cairhien 20-7-2
Chancellor of the Landsraad, Archduke of Is'Mod
A level-of-comfort question regarding imprisonment of mixed innocent and guilty groups.
- 05/03/2010 02:39:53 AM
328 Views
as things stands, I don't think we'd ever reach a level where that'd be necessary oO
- 05/03/2010 03:24:07 AM
208 Views
100%
- 05/03/2010 03:47:31 AM
214 Views
Law of averages says there are certainly many innocent people in prison.
- 05/03/2010 04:09:41 AM
200 Views
Doesn't matter
- 05/03/2010 04:22:19 AM
189 Views
Clarification: X% of them definitely did not meet the standards of reasonable doubt.
- 05/03/2010 09:44:09 PM
174 Views
It's a pointless question
- 06/03/2010 06:36:08 AM
175 Views
A relevant question; it seems to hinge on where one draws the line.
- 05/03/2010 04:19:34 AM
177 Views
I never really liked silly questions like this
- 05/03/2010 02:23:36 PM
207 Views
If there were 2,000,000 innocent and only 1 guilty, retrying everyone would not be practical.
- 05/03/2010 09:22:16 PM
179 Views
That's silly though
- 05/03/2010 09:39:53 PM
186 Views
Re: That's silly though
- 05/03/2010 11:11:50 PM
193 Views
Re: That's silly though
- 06/03/2010 12:11:06 AM
177 Views
what does the chance of reoffending have to do with guilt?
- 05/03/2010 10:02:21 PM
166 Views
Debt can be paid off, leaving the question of rehabilitation. *NM*
- 05/03/2010 10:32:38 PM
67 Views
I still don't see the realtionship to guilt
- 05/03/2010 10:59:28 PM
159 Views
Re: I still don't see the realtionship to guilt
- 05/03/2010 11:31:51 PM
173 Views
there is a reason they call it the justice system and not the rehabilation system
- 05/03/2010 11:33:55 PM
190 Views
It's called all kinds of things
- 06/03/2010 12:02:00 AM
188 Views
Re: It's called all kinds of things
- 06/03/2010 05:44:32 AM
177 Views
Well, we aren't going to agree at all (and I DID say it was opinion)
- 07/03/2010 09:00:37 AM
151 Views