[extropy-chat] Your children are safe with us...

[Adrian Tymes]

--- ben <benboc at lineone.net> wrote:
> So does that mean that if someone shot a tree in the mistaken belief
> that it was a person, they could be prosecuted for murder? Or would
> it
> be attempted murder?

Attempted murder.  And this scenario can be made less unlikely if you
consider the stereotype ninja trick of dressing some
appropriately-sized object - say, a log or a tree - with one's clothing
in order to make a passable (in bad light) resemblance to oneself.  If
the wannabe ninja did this in order to flee someone attempting to kill
via firearm, and that someone was indeed thus tricked into shooting the
tree instead of the real target, and a police officer witnessed all of
this - then, yes, the police officer would be legally justified in
arresting the shooter for attempted murder, even though all the shooter
actually did was shoot a tree (and maybe some clothing).

> So what was this guy arrested for, 'attempted
> paedophilia'?

Yes.  At least, that's what the crime should be titled; titles to
distinguish between attempt and success seem to get a bit sloppy
outside of physical things like murder, rape, and robbery.

> When did your beliefs become a target for the law, rather than your
> actions?

When you believe you are doing a certain action, where that action
(regardless of your belief about the law) would be against the law if
it were actually performed.

Note that this is separate from beliefs about things other than your
own actions, such as belief in the existence/nonexistence of
supernatural entities, beliefs about your life thus far (memories), and
so forth.  (Now, if those beliefs drive you towards committing actions
that would be criminal if your beliefs were true - well, again, that's
separate: the non-criminal beliefs produce criminal intent, but the
initial beliefs remain free and legal under the law.)

> (btw, the report just said 'teenage girl', not underage girl, which
> also
> struck me as strange. Is the age of consent in the US absurdly high,
> or
> something, so that all teenagers are under it? - surely not!)

In many states, the age of consent is 18.  Not saying whether that is
absurdly high or not, but the majority of teenagers (13-19 year olds)
are under 18 (and, while technically correct, it is not as common to
refer to 18 and 19 year olds as teenagers precisely because 18 is one
widely recognized age of majority).