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Comment by raister | Hacker News Reader

I'm not a lawyer, but I guess a committee (don't ask me who or how many) should evaluate the 'justifiability' of a crime: Let's suppose:

- random kill, no reason at all, psycopathy: 20 years in jail

- justified kill: 5 to 20 years in jail

I remember the dad that killed the Karate's instructor of his son, who was raping him during 'classes'. The dad killed the guy. For many people, it was a kill and he should be in jail. However, put yourself in his shoes, wouldn't you do the same (or near the same)?

In this case, you couldn't say: "oh, that's ok, just go home, we'll sort things out", because a crime was committed.

Maybe, and I'm being extremely naïve here, maybe, that could act as a deterrent when people are thinking on committing unjustified violence against others.

Again, I don't know nothing, I'm no lawyer.

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> For many people, it was a kill and he should be in jail.

For who not? I get that you might get angry and do something regretful like beat them up, but the justice system is there for a reason. If you start killing whomever you feel justified to kill... You say "many", perhaps because you're in favor of capital punishment carried out by the assumed victim before any trial, but I sincerely hope that you're wrong or the countries we've been building for thousands of years are doomed.

That's how it works in general unless there is a prescribed compulsory penalty.

Usually (or often) the job of the court/jury is not only to decide on guilty/innocent but, in case of a guilty verdict, to decide on the level of culpability and appropriate penalty (within what's prescribed in law).

This might well vary between countries, but passing sentence is typically the role of the judge or magistrate, and separate from determining guilt, which may be determined be a jury or lower court.

e.g. in the UK & other common law states once a defendant is found guilty a judge or magistrate will determine sentence and consider these factors, among others.

Depending on the severity of the crime, the sentencing may also be referred by a magistrate to a higher court able to impose a more severe penalty.

(see https://www.judiciary.uk/you-and-the-judiciary/sentencing/ for a good example)

In NSW that example would fall under voluntary manslaughter (murder (s18 Crimes Act) plus a defence of extreme provocation s23) which carries up to 25 years of jail (like all manslaughters s24). In the state of Victoria this defence was removed entirely whilst NSW amended the section for the extreme provocation offence where one of the elements is that the conduct must be a serious indictable offence (i.e. an offence that carries 5 or more years). This amendment was largely because there had been instances of non-violent homosexual advances that had resulted in murder and the defence being applicable.

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