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May 20, 2013, 02:15:11 am

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Has anyone ever been sitting in a boring business meeting and thought about being on a tropical island, or somewhere else? The meeting attendee did not go to a tropical island, in reality, but they thought about it. Was it wrong for the meeting attendee to THINK about going to a tropical island? Or, is it more important if they actually, in reality, went to the tropical island?

Too often, what I have seen in movies, or on television ends up in reality. I remember watching a movie called "Minority Report" and wondering how much was fiction, if truth would prove to be stranger than fiction, and how far away current society was from "Minority Report." Here is another show that seems similar, in my opinion (I have only read a little about it and watched a preview - Imagine solving a crime BEFORE it happens): http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/story/2011-09-21/person-of-interest-james-caviezel-michael-emerson/50502982/1 .

I have heard terms like "the intent to" in some legal issues. Is that justice? When someone purchases a lottery ticket, they have the intent to become a multi-millionaire. Isn't it more important if the person actually becomes a multi-millionaire? How many creditors will give a person credit, or loans based on their intent to become a multi-millionaire? Or, is it more important if the person actually is, in reality, a multi-millionaire? Can people be arrested and prosecuted on "the intent to?"

I think there might be a lot of people that have had a fantasy, or a thought but never acted on it. They never actually make it to that tropical island, in reality. As an employer, is it justice for me to fire the employee for the fantasy of leaving a boring meeting and going to a tropical island? Or is it more important if the employee actually got up and left the meeting, and went to the island?

Intent is a primary determination between accidental and criminal.

Shouldn't that only kick in, though, if an act actually occurred which injured or killed another, rather than the intent itself being defined as criminal? There are thought crimes that are treated as criminal acts even if never acted upon, I think that may have been what the OP was referring to. I think John is right as well, in a criminal prosecution, intent is relevant to determining whether to charge someone or what to charge them with.

Of course.
Which is why 'Minority Report' is sci-fi.

A little different than Minority Report...
But a point well taken.

Sometimes I hear terms like "intent to distribute," or "intent to make," and so on.

Person A walks out of their residence in a swimsuit.

Person B is asked: "What does person A intend to do?"

Person B responds: "Well, since person A is wearing a swimsuit, person A must be going swimming."

Person A then goes into their garage, gets the lawnmower and cuts the grass at their own residence while also getting a fabulous tan (the reason for the swimsuit while cutting grass).

However, had I believed Person B regarding Person A's intentions, we would have both been wrong, and both misjudged Person A's intentions.

Shouldn't Person A have to be caught in the act of swimming before they are punished for swimming, or intent to swim? Or is it o.k. to punish everyone that wears a swimsuit just because enough people believe everyone wearing a swimsuit must be going swimming? As soon as Person A walks out of their residence door in a swimsuit, should Person A be punished for swimming, or intent to swim? Or, should people wait to see if the person in the swimsuit actually does go swimming.......or if they cut the grass?

Quote from: LoveFreedomAndLiberty on September 28, 2011, 10:50:08 pm

That's why we have juries.

Quote from: John Edward Mercier on September 29, 2011, 08:24:20 am

That's why we have juries.

Does a jury guarantee truth and justice will prevail?

Probably much more than without.

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