5 ms·

20 year old jailed for 15 months for encouraging a friend to commit suicide

17 points by mcfrankline 9y ago

vijayr 9y ago
Moniz, who said he balanced rehabilitation and punishment when formulating his sentence, called the case "a tragedy for two families." Maybe, but only one of them lost a child :(
valuearb 9y ago
It's not a tragedy for one of the families if you let her off scott free.
- mcfrankline 9y ago
  I wouldn't term it scott free in this case. That girl is forever going to be haunted by this and society will probably never forget to remind her every once in a while
  - CodeWriter23 9y ago
    Assuming she's not a psychopath, excuse me, I mean someone suffering from antisocial personality disorder.
    - mcfrankline 9y ago
      Oh they're already pulling strings on this one with Eating disorders and depressions and what nots
  - dhdjdnnnebrbr 9y ago
    She'll only be haunted by the fact that she got caught.
wolco 9y ago
She was 17 at the same time happened. He doesn't want to do it but she keeps telling him he has to do it now. This is either a murder and/or accessory to a murder or not a crime at all and a suicide happened. It can't be both a suicide and a murder.
- dhdjdnnnebrbr 9y ago
  Sure it can. If you tell someone to commit murder and they do, you are guilty of murder as well. No reason it couldn't be true for suicide.
xyzzy4 9y ago
I would have voted not guilty if I was on that jury. Seems like the First Amendment should protect your right to give advice.
- jdmichal 9y ago
  Leave it to Ars to have a comment section that's actually got some decent stuff in there. I think this one directly applies to your comment. After all, what is fraud other than giving people bad advice on investing? https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/08/defendant-who-texted-teen-to-commit-suicide-ordered-to-serve-15-months/?comments=1&post=33752837 https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/08/defendant-who-te... "People scam other consenting adults out of large quantities of money every day, using nothing but the power of speech. We criminalize that and call it 'Fraud'. Why would the same type of action, when it results in death, be treated any differently?"
  - xyzzy4 9y ago
    Well during fraud someone is being misled with false statements, so the victims don't know they will lose money until it's too late. In this case on the other hand, the guy knew he would die when he took his own life.
    - LarryPage 9y ago
      /r/iamverysmart is leaking
- AcerbicZero 9y ago
  I'm not sure I would go that far as I think she pushed beyond the bounds of pure free speech, but overall I agree with the sentence. It seems to me if you can be talked into killing yourself, the person talking you into it can't be held entirely responsible. Obviously he was dealing with pre-existing problems, but in the end he made his own decision.
  - dhdjdnnnebrbr 9y ago
dhdjdnnnebrbr 9y ago
Hopefully she gets some prison justice to make it more fair. Maybe from an inmate or guard who lost a child to suicide.

17 points by mcfrankline 9y ago

Moniz, who said he balanced rehabilitation and punishment when formulating his sentence, called the case "a tragedy for two families." Maybe, but only one of them lost a child :(

valuearb 9y ago

It's not a tragedy for one of the families if you let her off scott free.

mcfrankline 9y ago
I wouldn't term it scott free in this case. That girl is forever going to be haunted by this and society will probably never forget to remind her every once in a while
- CodeWriter23 9y ago
  Assuming she's not a psychopath, excuse me, I mean someone suffering from antisocial personality disorder.
  - mcfrankline 9y ago
    Oh they're already pulling strings on this one with Eating disorders and depressions and what nots
- dhdjdnnnebrbr 9y ago
  She'll only be haunted by the fact that she got caught.

wolco 9y ago

She was 17 at the same time happened. He doesn't want to do it but she keeps telling him he has to do it now. This is either a murder and/or accessory to a murder or not a crime at all and a suicide happened. It can't be both a suicide and a murder.

dhdjdnnnebrbr 9y ago
Sure it can. If you tell someone to commit murder and they do, you are guilty of murder as well. No reason it couldn't be true for suicide.

xyzzy4 9y ago

I would have voted not guilty if I was on that jury. Seems like the First Amendment should protect your right to give advice.

jdmichal 9y ago
Leave it to Ars to have a comment section that's actually got some decent stuff in there. I think this one directly applies to your comment. After all, what is fraud other than giving people bad advice on investing? https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/08/defendant-who-texted-teen-to-commit-suicide-ordered-to-serve-15-months/?comments=1&post=33752837 https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/08/defendant-who-te... "People scam other consenting adults out of large quantities of money every day, using nothing but the power of speech. We criminalize that and call it 'Fraud'. Why would the same type of action, when it results in death, be treated any differently?"
- xyzzy4 9y ago
  Well during fraud someone is being misled with false statements, so the victims don't know they will lose money until it's too late. In this case on the other hand, the guy knew he would die when he took his own life.
  - LarryPage 9y ago
    /r/iamverysmart is leaking
AcerbicZero 9y ago
I'm not sure I would go that far as I think she pushed beyond the bounds of pure free speech, but overall I agree with the sentence. It seems to me if you can be talked into killing yourself, the person talking you into it can't be held entirely responsible. Obviously he was dealing with pre-existing problems, but in the end he made his own decision.
- dhdjdnnnebrbr 9y ago

dhdjdnnnebrbr 9y ago

Hopefully she gets some prison justice to make it more fair. Maybe from an inmate or guard who lost a child to suicide.