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To: informavoracious; Darren McCarty

Do I want to be the one? Of course not...

But I could just as justifiably ask YOU, do you (or your family) want to be one of the victims?

Do you think it’s right to “sentence” hundreds of innocent people to death, rape, or other violent acts to save one innocent person wrongly accused?

I know this is something most folks don’t want to even entertain as a reasonable argument, but I maintain that it is.

Thomas Sowell has a concept for this - it’s called “invisible cost”. If the cost of a decision or policy cannot be DIRECTLY attributable to the decision or policy, it is more likely to remain or be put into place.

Example, how many people die due to the FDA withholding approval on a drug? Unknown, it’s “invisible”. But, if they approve a drug that causes harm, that’s HIGHLY visible.

So, which way will they err?


138 posted on 04/17/2008 5:33:13 AM PDT by MrB (You can't reason people out of a position that they didn't use reason to get into in the first place)
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To: MrB
It's right because it is the least worst solution.

Here's my counterpoint to your argument.

Obviously I do not want to be one of the victims. However, I can defend myself and my family from criminals thanks to .45ACP. Most violent criminals do not have the power of the state backing them either. When something is sanctioned and given the power of law, there is much more of an authority there than street criminals do not have. DA and Law Enforcement have a lot of authority. Much of it is actual authority, but their persuasive authority is much stronger. They have the media access, and titles which causes a lot of average citizens to think they are automaticaly right until proven wrong.

Now not all DA's are bad, and not all cops are crooks. In most towns, most aren't. However, there's a reason why defendants have a right to a fair trial. The founding fathers knew what a tyrannical government was, and we have safeguards against that. Everyone has a right to a fair trial.

140 posted on 04/17/2008 8:00:30 AM PDT by Darren McCarty (Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in - Michael Corleone)
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