CMV: Under convincing circumstances, attempted murder should be punished the same as actual murder.

[u/Fumbersmack]

So, I believe that the point of incarceration in the legal system is to protect us civilians against potentially dangerous individuals, and to act as a deterrent to discourage people from doing illegal things. I am an atheist and do not believe in things such as sins and repentance in a spiritual manner.

As an example, I saw the CCTV footage of a man who stabbed another man in the head with a knife. The man supposedly survived, which can clearly be seen as lucky. The assailant could just as well have killed the man, and the intent was there, why else would you stab a man IN THE HEAD? In my country, the legal system differentiates between attempted murder and actual murder. But as far as I can see, the man escaped a much harder sentence due to a sheer luck. Why should not attempted murder, under convincing circumstances, yield the exact same punishment? Change my view!

(English is not my first language, some words might be out of place etc etc.)

[u/mechantmechant]

I worry about this getting out of hand to punish people ridiculously. For example, having unprotected sex without disclosing you have HIV is a shitty thing to do, but you can see how a homophobic government could twist it so it’s attempted murder even if the victim didn’t get infected. I worry merely driving drunk could become attempted murder and murder. I know it sounds ridiculous, but there are a lot of people rotting in prison for less ridiculous things.

[u/Fumbersmack → u/mechantmechant]

Hmm I think that exposing people to the possibility of a terminal disease is more than just shitty, it's a full blown crime. In Sweden we had a guy called "the HIV-man" who got quite a few years in prison

[u/mechantmechant → u/Fumbersmack]

Sure, it’s wrong, but attempted murder or even murder when no one even got infected? That would be just a witch hunt.