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otterleytoday at 5:28 AM1 replyview on HN

Who in the Western world is being charged with, convicted of, and punished for “thought crimes”? Be specific, please.


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rileymat2today at 10:30 AM

It is a bit different than what we are discussing, but intent plays a huge role in Western justice. The same physical action can lead to vastly different outcomes.

A high profile interesting example of this is the assassination attempt on Brett Kavanaugh. If you look at the details none of the actions would have been an attempt if not for the intent.

It is an interesting thought experiment as to how many actions you have to take for a crime that you don’t commit to be charged as an attempt or more broadly as conspiracy and at what point people are allowed to change their mind. We see this in terrorism cases pretty frequently.

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