4 ms·
Are retrospective criminal laws even allowed in the US? They're generally considered dicey from a human-rights point of view.
by pmccool 17y ago
Are retrospective criminal laws even allowed in the US? They're generally considered dicey from a human-rights point of view.
- thwarted 17y agohttp://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#A1Sec9 http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#A1Sec9 "No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed." http://www.usconstitution.net/glossary.html#EXPOST http://www.usconstitution.net/glossary.html#EXPOST "ex post facto adj. Formulated, enacted, or operating retroactively." This is, however, a limit on Congress.
- derefr 17y agoSo, if someone invents a whole new kind of evil—say, simulating a universe composed purely of vingtillions of minds being tortured—they go free, even after a law is purpose-made to stop them—but the next guy to do it gets the wrap?
- michael_dorfman 17y agoRight. If what they do is not forbidden under existing law, no criminal charges can be brought against them. Of course, if they harm people, those people can still file civil suits. And, it would be quite surprising if the "whole new kind of evil" managed to harm people without falling into a category already prohibited by law (i.e., assault). But, the point remains: you can't be charged for breaking a law that didn't exist at the time you broke it.
- mseebach 17y ago> say, simulating a universe composed purely of vingtillions of minds being tortured No, you can't outlaw The Sims retroactively.
- stcredzero 17y agoBeing tortured by being trapped in the pool and/or in houses without toilets?
- mseebach 17y agoStuff like that. Inflicting slow and painful death for amusement. Frankly, I didn't completely follow derefr's post .. Did he really suggest that there could be a need for laws to govern what happens to simulated minds?
- thwarted 17y agoRead the book Altered Carbon. People can switch bodies and their minds can be run in simulation and there are laws about running someone's mind in simulation just for the puroses of torture.
- mseebach 17y agoThat's all very interesting, but the "fiction" part of "science fiction" is there for a reason. And by the way, if you're somehow successful in removing my mind from my body and torturing it in a computer, current laws would apply just fine.
- stcredzero 17y agoMaybe not. The literal meaning of "Habeas Corpus" is "You have the body." Right now, there is no separation of mind and body in most legal systems.
- anigbrowl 17y agoUnlike fantasy, the fictional aspect of SF is not permanent. Yesterday's personal communicator is today's smartphone. Artificial intelligences with distinct personalities are not here yet, but I see no fundamental bounds to their creation and am pretty optimistic about the timeframe. The question of whether such intelligences qualify as people will become a pressing one at that time, even if it seems abstract to you now.
- randallsquared 17y agoThat's not a new kind of evil at all. I'm not sure that new kinds of evil are even possible. The idea that we need a separate law for every conceivable circumstance in which a kind of crime could be committed seems weird to me. Torturing people is already widely illegal; the kind of people need not be specified in law.