BroBogan t1_je2wabq wrote on March 29, 2023 at 12:37 AM

Reply to comment by hellomondays in Maryland Court of Appeals reinstates Adnan Syed's murder conviction by nowhathappenedwas

> I rather many guilty person go free from the state not being able to prove their guilt rather than one innocent person be wrongly convicted.

This is one of those lines that is great in theory but much tougher in practice.

We are talking about murder here. So if ten people are on trial for murder and one of them is innocent but the other nine are guilty you would rather all ten be free then all ten be in prison? How comfortable are you with setting free nine murderers into your community?

What if it is 100 and 99 of them are guilty and one is innocent?

There is no correct answer here. I struggle this with myself and it's an interesting dilemma (like the trolley problem). But I think your statement is easy to say in theory but harder in reality when you're talking about releasing murderers into a community.

JCPRuckus t1_je2ye81 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 12:53 AM

You're the 1 innocent person wrongly accused of murder. Are you willing to go to jail to put 9 actual murderers in jail?... I'm not.

BroBogan t1_je5hs4l wrote on March 29, 2023 at 3:40 PM

So serious question. How many murders would you be willing to release to spare one innocent person.

Let's say there are 300,000 people in prison for murder right now. Statistically at least one is innocent. Probably much more than one.

Should we release all 300,000 people convicted of murder in order to ensure that the innocent are let free?

JCPRuckus t1_je5l25g wrote on March 29, 2023 at 4:01 PM

Edit: Actually... Answer my question first.

How murderers would it take being imprisoned instead of released for you to be willing to be imprisoned for a murder you didn't commit and branded a convicted murderer for life?

DefinitelyNotAliens t1_je2ylaq wrote on March 29, 2023 at 12:54 AM

The murder recidivism rate for another murder is 2% after 5 years, so actually pretty comfortable because statistically, none of the 10 will kill anyone, and any crime is 51%, including property crimes, where losses are dollars, not physical harm.

Overall recidivism rates are close to 80% in 5 years, so actually murderers are much less likely to do bad stuff compared to like... car thieves and domestic abusers. Unless the murder is a domestic abuser. Property crime guys are highest at over 80%.

Realistically, we shouldn't convict people unless they are beyond reasonable doubt, the perpetrator. A criminal record is devasting in finding work. Even an arrest can destroy your life. Cash bail is a pay to play justice system and disproportionately impacts the poor.

Some states your criminal record follows you for life. You will never get a good job with good pay. You are forever a criminal.

To brand someone as a criminal for life is a big deal. Take years of their life? Big deal.

Yeah. The state should be really freaking sure before destroying their life and stripping human rights. It's not a small thing.