• Talcosis@lemmy.zip
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    3 days ago

    Really? Then why are voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, manslaughter 1, manslaughter 2, manslaughter 3, murder 1, and murder 2 all separate crimes, when (without motivation) the crime is just killing someone you weren’t supposed to kill?

    Kinda sounds like all those distinctions can be collapsed down to murder, right?

    Why have varying sentences for crimes?

    Matter of fact, why is mens rea even taught in law school?

    • FishFace@piefed.social
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      2 days ago

      That’s murder where I fully agree that motivation is very important. That is one single action - killing a person.

      Juries don’t pass sentences so varying sentences are not relevant here. This man’s motivation should absolutely have been taken into account had he been convicted when passing his sentence.

      • Talcosis@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        Oh. So which of the types of murder should he be convicted of, for accurate sentencing?

          • Talcosis@lemmy.zip
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            1 day ago

            Well. Someone died. You said the conviction requires no knowledge of motivation. Which of the 5-7 separate and distinct crimes of varying severity do we convict them of, and how do we decide without knowing motivation? (Like, “premeditated”)

              • Talcosis@lemmy.zip
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                1 day ago

                Ah, yeah, that goes a long way towards explaining why you think motivation is irrelevant to criminal punishment.