Subject:
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Re: Criminal Justice
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Mon, 2 Sep 2002 23:50:33 GMT
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Viewed:
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556 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> It seems contradictory to claim that tort protects "what IS" while
> immediately following with the inclusion of a bald prediction of a future
> "might be."
Well, that's a fault of the kind of torts we currently allow. At the same
time the destruction of what exists at the time of the loss is what is being
protected. It's not that big a leap to assert that someone that has been
earning "X" dollars for the last 10 years would have kept earning at least
"X" dollars for the next 30 years, or until retirement. Bear in mind that
the compensation considered is not arbitrary but based on facts generally
assumed before the untimely advent of death.
> You seem to support the notion that one child orphaned should be awarded a
> life of leisure and another should be awarded an empty whisky bottle -- based
> merely on what we might guess about the actions of their parents had they not
> been murdered. That makes me uncomfortable.
I think the wealthy child is likely to have no worries no matter what
happens, at least financially.
I think it's fair to award an amount for the life itself, a separate amount
for loss of society, and a third amount for loss of income (this last part
will vary from case to case). People are not equal.
BTW, I don't feel like rereading the whole thread again, but weren't we
saying that what should be equal here is the value of the life itself? I
have no problem with that being the same statutory amount across the board.
Of course, no one listens to us...
> And why more for some than others? What _right_ does a child born to rich
> parents have to those circumstances? And wouldn't inheritance (with which I
> also have issues...for another discussion) take care of that?
Every child has the right to that which was lost. That's exactly what one
sues for.
I don't have a problem with inheritance if the property being transferred is
lawfully held, and is not an intellectual property right being maintained ad
nauseam by an estate. I favor intellectual property rights during the life
of the creator (a natural person) as a maximum, and for 25 years or so for a
fictitious person -- that's about it. The "stuff" I don't worry so much about.
> If you want to instead compare a lower middle class family with one in
> poverty, and claim that the first kid has righteous claim to a proper
> education, I'd agree. But so does the poor kid.
Here's where it gets to be apples and oranges -- why should tort law serve
as a remedy for social or economic inequalities? I'm not really arguing
against a remedy to those inequalities, just saying that maybe this isn't
the way to do it.
> I want the system to do what's right because it produces a better world for
> everyone to inhabit. Not because it fits neatly in some philosophy of law.
Why would "doing what's right" and a "neat philosophy of law" be mutually
exclusive? I think the reason we are trouble now is that we have lumped in
too many things to maintain a single coherent theory of what the law is and
what it is intended to accomplish.
-- Hop-Frog
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Criminal Justice
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| (...) Setting aside the loss of income issue (because I'm still not sure and don't have anything insightful to say), what does "loss of society" mean? (...) Let's imagine that a kid is part of a rich family until he's ten (way old enough to have (...) (22 years ago, 3-Sep-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Criminal Justice
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| (...) lens... I've been thinking about this for quite a while and I think that either I misunderstand your meaning, or you're wrong. The notion of equality under law, I think, is somewhat slippery. Further, it seems some times (this included) that (...) (22 years ago, 2-Sep-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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