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Comment by soerxpso | Hacker News Reader

I don't think the person you're replying to is saying perjury should be legal. They're saying perjury might be a good idea sometimes. Especially if you're guilty, sometimes your only chance of staying out of prison does involve lying. A guilty person looking at 20 years would be reasonable to be unconcerned about whatever addition perjury charges might add (if they were even caught perjuring).

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The fact that perjury might seem like a "good idea" to a criminal, or the only chance to stay out prison, doesn't mean it should be permitted.

The purpose of the justice system should not be to give guilty people the best chance to stay out of prison.

Yes, if you're guilty, lying may be your best defense. That doesn't mean the justice system should encourage it! If you're guilty, the justice systems want you to go to jail. All the protections exist to protect innocent people.

Ah, so of course you yourself, or someone you care about, would never be a guilty person, right? You would never find yourself, say, breaking a law that you didn't know about, or doing something that's technically a criminal act but seemed innocent enough at the time (the classic insider trader's lament), nor would you ever have a close family member who is charged with a serious crime. Or if you did, you would bravely accept the judgement of the court without taking exception.

You know, it would be terrible if I was found guilty of willful copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which carries "A fine of not more than $500,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, for the first offense"[1]. If I had committed such a terrible act as torrenting seven movies, the insult to my conscience would surely move me to accept the felony penalties with civic stoicism - after such twisted malice from myself, the additional moral consequences of pleading "Not Guilty" would be too great to bear.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_St...

You can't design a justice system around making it easy for you to escape responsibility for complying with laws you disagree with.

I'm not expressing an opinion on whether throwing someone in jail for torrenting movies is the right moral outcome. What I am saying is that a system which officially says "Yes, lying in court is legally permissible as long as you're lying about something related to a bullshit law" is not exactly sustainable.

I think the DMCA is a stupid and unfair law. The mafia probably thinks RICO is a stupid and unfair law. Someone who is a habitual drunk driver (but is convinced they can 'handle their liquor' better than the general public) probably thinks drunk driving laws are stupid and unfair. What of it?

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