- 21 May 2017 19:33
#14806961
Well, that's the debate we're having. I think it should be equal, but I don't subscribe to the notion that equality is more important than doing the right thing. If everybody is treated unfairly, that's not better than some people being treated fairly and some people not being treated fairly.
I'll give you an example of that principle. The war on drugs. We can both agree it's bad (hopefully). It's also unfairly applied. But it's not better to send more rich kids that smoke pot or do coke to jail. Instead we should not be sending poor people to jail for drugs.
Well without context this sounds like a good principle, but the problem is that some laws and sentences are not just. A shotgun approach to law is never a good idea. No system is perfect, so we should always be open to reform.
I'll give you an example of that principle. The war on drugs. We can both agree it's bad (hopefully). It's also unfairly applied. But it's not better to send more rich kids that smoke pot or do coke to jail. Instead we should not be sending poor people to jail for drugs.
saeko wrote:I don't think anybody should receive leniency, except in cases where, under extrarodinary circumstances, they were forced to do the right thing but illegally.
This is clearly not one of those.
Well without context this sounds like a good principle, but the problem is that some laws and sentences are not just. A shotgun approach to law is never a good idea. No system is perfect, so we should always be open to reform.