Just because they lose their memory doesn't mean that they didn't do the crime, and it doesn't mean that they are now a different person. So in general, yes, they should still be accountable.
Isn't the point of punishing someone to make sure they don't do a similar thing again? If someone doesn't even remember what they did, they probably wont do it again, so it's pointless. It's like kicking a 16 year old in the spleen for peeing on the carpet when he was 2 years old. He's never going to do it again, so why did you just rupture one of his vital organs?
Isn't the point of punishing someone to make sure they don't do a similar thing again? If someone doesn't even remember what they did, they probably wont do it again, so it's pointless. It's like kicking a 16 year old in the spleen for peeing on the carpet when he was 2 years old. He's never going to do it again, so why did you just rupture one of his vital organs?
It would be nice, but that's not the case. Prison isn't for rehabilitiation, it's for keeping all the criminals separated from the rest of society. If the system really wanted to make sure people wouldn't commit crime again, they wouldn't put them in a place where the only people they know are criminals and the only authority they know is abusive and controlling. This type of environment can't breed respect for the law.
Oh, and about "It's like kicking a 16 year old in the spleen for peeing on the carpet when he was 2 years old". People who are convicted of a crime will have that "convicted of whatever" attached to their name for the rest of their life.
Have you read Death Note? There is a great (all be it unrealistic situation) that brilliantly makes the reader pick their stance on the topic. Uninfluenced by the Death Note scenario though, yes, I think people are still accountable.
I wouldn't see it as punishing, just protecting society from them. I don't believe punishing for revenge is right, only in punishing to protect others. The OP seems to speak of revenge.
It would still be risky to let this person free, so yes.
uh....not remembering a crime you committed has no bearing on the actual crime. youve still willingly committed a crime, and unless amnesia in this case means total personality replacement flinstones-style, they are still the same person that willingly committed said crime.
whatever happens after the fact is irrelevant; if you save the world from aliens single-handedly after murdering someone, your still tried for murder.
if it were brain damage, then a mental institute i think is the usual 'punishment'. if he cant even comprehend the punishment, theres no sense to it. at least with amnesia the person is still functioning and can understand that crime causes you to lose your memory and get punished for things you dont remember, increasing the likelihood he wont develop into the same criminally minded person.
The main character, Daniel something, did terrible things to people, with the Immortal Baron's help, to save his own life. When he realized what he had been doing, it drove him insane, the horrible deeds he had committed tore at his heart so deeply he could barely function. It happened the Baron who helped Daniel torture the largely innocent had developed an amnesia potion to make victims forget their suffering so pain could be inflicted anew. Daniel imbibed this potion at the start of the game, thus beginning the adventure.
If you didn't read that spoiler, imagine that you, the player, began this game and local law inforcement kicked in the door and arrested you for kidnapping and murder. (I don't think they'd know about the rest) Would this make any sense to you? (well, the title's a hint, I guess) Having just started the game, I would feel a little cheated being saddled with the blame of a crime I had no hand in, Oblivion did this as well. (but the guards of Cyrodill are notorious psychic arseholes, so maybe your character was thinking an illegal thought like "I'd like to be a game protagonist")
Then there's Darth Revan.
It's you. You are the result of the Dark Lord of the Sith falling in battle and being picked up by "merciful" jedi, who then fucked with his/her head just enough to wipe the slate clean. You're held accountable (mostly) for what YOU do, but everyone seems to mostly acknowledge the old sith is long gone. Darkside or not, the person Revan becomes doesn't know what the person who perished in Malak's betrayal knew, as most of your crewmates may agree when the truth comes out. No one seems to blame the player for anything Revan did during his reign as a Sith Lord.
Then again, the average memory-impaired criminal probably isn't a Force-using hero capable of changing the fate of the galaxy, so maybe that's irrelevant.
To answer the question, no I don't think someone who has no recollection of an offense should be fully punished, but surely something has to be done? Have all the answers, I do not.
Normally yes, but depends. A crime of passion, They should get a light sentence, same for an accident. Although if it was pre-meditated, then it is the sort of thing they would likely do again, so then they should get the full punishment.
well punishment should be for something you did. not something you remember doing. I am sure if something like that happened they more or less would send him to an asylum rather than prison, but in the end I really dont care. Everyone has the ability to do good or bad (of course good and bad are subjective anyway). So I say punish on what he did, not what he knows he did.
Only if the amnesia is permanent should he be pardoned. As soon as he gets his memory back its jailtime. And as for the victims and their family, as long as they never see or hear from him again they can shove their revenge where it belongs. Punishing someone for something he didn't do is retarded. (I'm claiming here that when you have amnesia like that, you become a different person.)
you should have picked some one else,people dont like him and want him to die,even if he didn't do any thing bad to them.Im sad that he died,I don't like when people die.Also he should be sent to jail for a year or two,and then start a new life,if he becomes bad again,give him the full punishment!Also,I see why you picked him.He is VERY popular know a days....
Um... yes. Regardless of whether the defendant knows it or not doesn't negate that a crime has been committed. If a person blacked out because of drug or alcohol abuse and murders someone, they're still going to be convicted. Maybe only on an involuntary manslaughter charge, but you can't ignore the evidence that says person A killed person B.
A lot of people don't seem to understand this, but justice isn't fair, it's just.
Well we are basically a sum of all of our experiences, and if we have no recollection of the experiences that shaped us to be the person we are, we are no longer the person that we were.
However this is a very difficult decision and would probably have to be examined on a case by case basis.
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