The man found a trash bag somebody else had tossed over his garden wall. It had a gun in it. So he took it to the police station and turned it in. Now he's facing five years in prison, minimum, for possession of a firearm.
Judge Christopher Critchlow said: "This is an unusual case, but in law there is no dispute that Mr Clarke has no defence to this charge.
"The intention of anybody possessing a firearm is irrelevant."
Be afraid. Be very afraid. Because there are people who want to bring this nonsensical attitude toward the entire freaking world.
This is why mandatory-minimum sentences, typified by California's crazy "Three-Strikes" law, are such a terrible idea. In this case there seems to be a whole class of "strict liability" laws--where your intention has absolutely nothing to do with whether you're guilty.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the "three strikes" law. Yeah, on the surface it seems like a good idea, but it results in nonsensical and really unjust sentences. But then, our entire system is screwy. How much time you serve doesn't seem to be often related to how much of a danger you are to society or how much damage your crime did.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's terrible. There's really no excuse for punishing someone for trying to do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteThis is an obvious example of a system set up to punish people who try to defend themselves or someone else without being part of the government. We have judges and juries for this very reason, to apply common sense to the law on a case by case basis.
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