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hypothetical situations can be used to argue anything
Indeed. When I wrote what I did to crash, I was hoping for the response I got-- "but maybe he had a twin or someone just looked exactly like the guy I know." That sort of thing. It is the creation of scenarios unsupported by evidence. In other words, it is the falling prey to unreasonable doubt. It there is reasonable doubt, the accused should not be convicted
at all. If unreasonable doubt is acceptable then there is no way to convict anyone of anything.
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but our judicial system doesn't allow for a scale of confidence.
Yes, it does. It is called 'reasonable doubt.'
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where would the cut off point be in certainty be?
Where is it now?
The problem, of course, is that every case is different. There really is no way to draw a line. This is the reason for a jury trial instead of trial by the judge or some other officer. The idea is that if the jury reaches consensus, that is the best we can do-- not that I do not have objections to much of the process.
But where is the cut-off? Obviously there is such a thing. Crash claims there is not and that is the point to which I object. Take Dahmer-- bodies in the fridge. It is hard to get more certain. Crash, it seems to me, would propose a whole string of objections to cast doubt. "Maybe the police planted the evidence." "Maybe some other person is the killer and was using Dahmer's apartment." "Maybe..." It really is the casting of unreasonable doubt. Scenarios with no evidence don't count.
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i think cash is right in that in the real world the death penalty just doesn't work.
That may be, but not in all cases for the reasons crash proposes.
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just like communism...
Lol... I am pretty sure we'll get there eventually, but it isn't going to happen by revolution and it isn't going to happen anytime soon. It will take a mental change, not a political one. That is another topic anyway, and it is just a guess. It is one of those things which make me want to live a thousand years, just to find out it works the way I expect.
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on a bit of a different topic, i see the judicial system as a means to protect society first and foremost.
Absolutely.
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punishment isn't really a means to protect society unless it's used as a form of rehabilitation.
This I can't accept. Sequestering criminals protects the rest of us, whether rehabilitation is a result or not.
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