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submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[-] [email protected] 110 points 1 month ago

It'll be a split decision.

[-] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago

Made me chuckle... And people are sleeping here, dammit!

[-] [email protected] 85 points 1 month ago
[-] [email protected] 56 points 1 month ago

Interesting question!

It seems to also show up in the first episode of American Horror Story: Freak Show [2].


After thinking a bit on it and reading about it, I would go with neither would go to jail.

It is better for a criminal to get away with murder than to have an innocent person go to jail for that crime.

It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.

AKA Blackstone's ratio


There are some other possible solutions to the problem, however. You might throw both twins in prison but treat only the guilty one as if he were a convict. When the siblings were released, for example, the good twin would have all the rights of a normal citizen, while the evil twin would have lost the right to vote, be registered as a sex offender, etc. You might even compensate the good twin according to the relevant payout rules for wrongful convictions. (Those who were wrongly incarcerated for a federal crime can get up to $50,000 per year, or $100,000 if they were on death row.)

All of the above assumes that one twin is unambiguously guilty, and the other is unambiguously innocent. In real life, it’s hard to imagine such a clear-cut case. For example, a jury might be inclined to believe that the “good” twin acted as an accomplice, or perhaps an accessory, to the crime after the fact. This charge would apply if one sibling knew that the other had committed a crime—which seems likely under any circumstances—and that he intentionally provided assistance or comfort to his sibling rather than calling the police at the first opportunity. If the good twin were convicted of an accessory crime in federal court, he’d be subject to at most half the prison term appropriate to his evil brother. In some states, however, it’s legal to harbor a fugitive if that person happens to be your sibling.

One more way that a “good” twin might be convicted, even if he took no part in the actual committing of the crime: In some states, he might be found guilty of not stopping his brother. Although as a general rule, common-law tradition dictates that you can’t be held accountable for something you didn’t do, 10 states have so-called “duty to rescue” statutes. These require innocent bystanders to call the police or reasonably attempt to aid a victim in distress. (In four of these states, siblings of the offender are exempt from the law.) If one twin tried to stab someone, the other might be expected to grab his arm or drag both of them to the ground. The penalty for failing to rescue is usually a fine, though some jurisdictions allow for up to a year in prison.

[1] Source: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2010/01/a-siamese-twin-commits-murder-the-explainer-s-2009-question-of-the-year.html


I believe that within our Constitutional framework, the only thing to be done in this situation is to release the conjoined twins. Even if the jury sentenced the conjoined twins to death, the court would have to commute the sentence and release the twins. The guarantees of due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments prohibit punishing an innocent actor.

He asks the important question: “Which do we hold higher, the punishment of an innocent life or freeing a guilty one?”

[2] Source: https://www.bustle.com/articles/44313-how-are-conjoined-twins-punished-if-one-commits-murder-asking-for-bette-dot-on-ahs

[-] [email protected] 23 points 1 month ago

But in practice we throw innocent people in prison all the time in the USA.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Cool. Their answer was way better though.

[-] DudeImMacGyver 1 points 1 month ago

They're not wrong though...

[-] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Well there's at least one example out there of one identical twin committing a crime but since neither would admit it was them, they had to let them go free. I didn't remember if there was a trial or just that they knew they couldn't effectively prosecute them without knowing.

Something like that might be the result here.

[-] [email protected] 43 points 1 month ago

I'd say nobody. Not putting innocent people in jail is more important than punishing criminals imo. But idk what to do with the guilty half instead.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Not disagreeing but I don't think it's appropriate to refer to one twin as a "half"

[-] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Afaik it's pretty common to call twin~~k~~s "halfs", conjoined or not. I'm a twin, and I've been asked about "my other half" my whole life. Same thing with couples, or any two people who are perceived as belonging together for some reason.

[-] [email protected] 20 points 1 month ago

it's pretty common to call twinks "half's"

That is a brilliant typo

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Can't hide my gaming history 😅

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

I get that old reference, but these days and much more broadly, twink is for a term for a gay man with a certain body type, or other physical characteristics.

So you might get some odd looks using that in public.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago
[-] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

It's half a set of twins. It's okay.

I don't speak for my clone, let alone all twins. But I don't care. I rode a bike down the side of a highway with no helmet as the logging trucks passed us by: this label will not hurt me.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

The person per person count is slightly skewed for conjoined twins :)

[-] [email protected] 26 points 1 month ago

I think it should depend on the conjoined twin capacity to prevent the murder.

If he had enough control over the body but didn’t try to stop the murder he should be at least held a little responsible.

If he wouldn’t have been able to prevent the murder then he’s just a witness and shouldn’t be put in jail no matter what.

And now I wonder what would happen if the conjoined twin could be sentenced to death.

[-] Scubus 9 points 1 month ago

Massively convoluted plan to get bodily autonomy

[-] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago

I was curious if this has even happened before and can't find anything. Not even working together and both being guilty. I guess conjoined twins don't get up to much mischief 🤷🏻‍♂️

[-] [email protected] 20 points 1 month ago

Conjoined twins usually have some pretty serious physical limitations.

[-] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Everyone can commit tax fraud

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

That’s the spirit

[-] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago

I've occasionally wondered the same thing about sexy time. Like, what if they don't both like the same kind of sex? One likes it rough, the other sweet and soft?

I suppose the answer to that is obvious, but it leads me to questions like: how are accusations of rape handled when one twin was consenting? Again, the answer seems obvious, but aside from the biological challenges, conjoining raises a whole host of other minor dilemmas.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago
[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Looks like an interesting documentary. One of the twins looks remarkably like Matt Damon!

[-] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago

Well they just are extra not allowed to commit crimes. Like way more than other people.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

I think the human rights of the assailant always outweigh those of the victim in these situations. Neither of them goes to prison.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

You definitely misread the question but personally I would love to know what you thought it was.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago
[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Don't they both have control of half the body? So it's not really possible

[-] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

Happens in many different ways actually. It's rarely a 50/50 split too. So it's possible.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Being a head stuck on someone else's body sounds horrifying

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Assuming it is ever right to cage a human as punishment, i guess one would need a special room on the exterior wall of the prison.

Inside the room (and prison?) both are unencumbered (the free one is just visiting for the twins sake), but in order to leave (as one has the right to) the other must don one of those shrouds from the Foundation series.

[-] southsamurai 6 points 1 month ago

Probably a typo, but just in case: you don clothing.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Thank you for your service.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

And doff it too.

this post was submitted on 19 May 2024
194 points (96.6% liked)

Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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