ruby sparks said:
If it were to be applied, then for something like, for example, manslaughter as a result of negligence (rather than intent), if we hypothetically say that this is deserving of a prison sentence, then prisons might contain a lot of people who merely did something that could have caused a death, but didn't, serving the exact same sentences as those whose actions did result in a death.
Only as long as there is beyond a reasonable doubt evidence that there behavior was equally risky. In other words,
bad consequences can in many cases provide evidence of risky behavior that otherwise is not present. I set up my scenarios specifically so that it's apparent that the risk was the same in all cases, and it's just a coincidence that no one got hit. But in plenty of real cases, there is insufficient evidence about what they did (of course, lawmakers also have to consider practical matters, like social peace and how to allocate limited resources, which complicates things, though for the most part, going by their usual statements about victims, they seem to just get it wrong, as they tend to link deserved punishment with consequences).
