Which is the bigger crime, prosecuting an innocent person, or freeing a guilty person?

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greagues2	It is not the prosecution that matters, so much as the possible conviction or aqqital. Recall Cases Like the Guilford Four and many more and there you have your answer. The old saying is: Better that one thousand guilty men go free than 'one' innocent person be sent to prison - or the gallows?. It's a pity that so many of their 'Lordships' overlook this little saying. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

*peggymoo**	Jailing an innocent person is worse in my view. Our entire justice system is based on the idea of 'innocent until proven guilty' and the fact that that proof has to be 'beyond a reasonable doubt', so if a jury is unsure then they should always acquit. It is of course a terrible thing for a guilty person to escape punishment, but to take away the liberty of someone innocent is much worse. There is always the hope that you might be able to convict the guilty person on another crime if they re-offend, but if you take away years, months, or even just days, of an innocent person's life, you can never give that back. I haven't yet watched 'The Verdict', but it clearly provides food for thought and raises interesting questions, so I think I will give it a look. Good question by the way. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

?	Good Question , Yes I did watch "The Verdict" last Night ---- I would feel that to Jail an Innocent Person would be the worst of all Evils --- But to release a Guilty Person surely depends on Many Factors , ???? Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

<B.T>	I'm an Indian.In India there is a proverb, thousand criminals can escape,but never should an innocent should be punished. we can leave even 1000 criminals to escape but nowhere should one innocent be prosecuted. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Hannah	Prosecuting an innocent person. A guilty person can always change but if you lock up someone who hasn't done anything, they'll just come out hating you more.. (and which idiot is thumbs-downing all the answers?) Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

mattapan26	English/American criminal law requires that the prosecution prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. To win in a civil trial, the plaintiff need only prove by the preponderance of the evidence, meaning that on balance the plaintiff is more than 50% likely to be right. A famous example is OJ Simpson. The criminal jury determined that there was a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of murder or manslaughter. The civil jury determined that it was more likely than not that he unlawfully caused the deaths of his wife and her friend. The general opinion was that race is what freed OJ, and that may be so, but it illustrates the differences in the burden of proof between a criminal case and a civil case. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

rab333	I believe that jailing the innocent is the far greater crime. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

MonkeyLab	Individually - they are both as harsh as each other. But if you are jailing an innocent person for the crime of another individual, that could be seen as worse than just simply freeing a guilty person. This allows the law to stop searching for the true guilty person and allow that individual to continue to do what they did before without any hesitation and depending on the crime - add another vicitim to their belt. Actually, to be put behind bars for a crime you didn't commit... is probably worse the more I think about it... Thats not even thinking about the death penatly... Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

livinia	definitly jailing the innocent Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Misshopeful	I suppose prosecuting an innocent person. Difficult question :) Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

richardwales79	FREEING A GUILTY PERSON BECAUSE THEY CAN COMMIT MORE CRIME Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

ann	jail someone Innocent Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Trixi	The bigger crime would be to jail an innocent person but to let a guilty person go free is also a big crime because there is no justice! A leopard never changes it's spots, so he/she will commit a crime again, hopefully the evidence will be sufficient to keep them in jail. Karma always comes back to bite you in the *ss!! Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

the_immortal89	Jailing an innocent person is the bigger crime, if you are a accused of some horrific crime and only you know that you truthfully didn't do it- it would just mess up your life Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

ashitmafinger	the first Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Ian L	Prosecuting an innocent person. You can now be re arrested and tried if new evidence becomes available. So that tips the see saw for me Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

slew	Jailing the Innocent. Its ingrained in THe US judicial system. We believe in freeing 10 guilty man before jailing an innocent. I agree. If the man is guilty he is most likely to commit more crime, and we can get them then. we can't undo the damage of torturing an innocent. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

™ ♥♥♥	pros a Innocent person is the worst Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Paddy B	Neither is a crime. To "prosecute" an innocent person happens all the time. To "convict" an innocent person is hopefully rare, but it happens and it is deplorable. But man is fallible and mistakes happen. You do all you can to avoid the conviction of the innocent, but regrettably it cannot be completely avoided. (This, incidentally, is the clinching argument against capital punishment. If you imprison somebody wrongly found guilty of a crime and you eventually you find out the truth then you can release them. You can't bring back the dead!). The converse of convicting an innocent person is not convicting a guilty one. Again it happens and is regrettable. But in the English system (and many other in civilised countries) there is a PRESUMPTION of innocence. Anyone on trial is presumed innocent until proved guilty. It is the prosecution's task to establish that proof "beyond reasonable doubt". If they fail to do this then the accused is cleared. So mistakes can happen. My own view is that the wrongful conviction of the innocent is more deplorable than the wrongful acquittal of the guilty. But both are to be regretted, of course. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

boots&hank	Putting myself in that situation, the helpless feeling of knowing you're innocent and having tried to prove it and failed and then being jailed... It's much worse. The thing is, most people ''guilty but freed'' will almost certainly commit another crime and eventually be caught. We talk about how soft our jails our (in the States, that is) and how ''good'' the prisoners have it, but the reality is that prison is prison and you have had your freedom taken away from you. I've just read John Grisham's "The Innocent Man" (a 'true crime' story about several people wrongly convicted and imprisoned for crimes they didn't commit). Committing a crime is serious; so is taking away another person's freedom. I believe the greater of the 2 mistakes that you mention is prosecuting an innocent person. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

freebird	The criminal justice system is based on the idea that it is better to let the guilty go free than to convict the innocent. That's why juries have to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt of the accused's guilt. Personally, I agree with this concept as I think incarerating the innocent to be worse. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

de bossy one	prosecuting an innocent person, when the prosecution knows the person is innocent, is known as malicious prosecution. a prosecutor can lose his liscence if it is determined he knew the truth and prosecuted anyway. but it is better that a guilty man go free , than an innocent be imprisoned wrogfully. unfortunately, it happens all to often. lack of good representation usually includes getting convicted fror something another person did. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Heathcliff	prosecuting the innocent, the prison is full as it is and they are running out of room Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Rob	prosecuting an innocent person Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

zay2drive	i would say jailing the innocent becuase they are getting totured for something they havnt done being seperated from their family in acuse i mean the guilty being freed is also bad because they go out in the world for nothing to cause for coruption? but innocent being prosecuted is much worse i think well i know Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Matt H	there is no question to me, putting an Innocent person in prison or even putting them to death is a far greater injustice than letting the guilty go free... our system of justice is setup to favor the defendant, Innocent until proven guilty is the way it is suppose to be, although it rarely is in practice... it would be better to let 10 murders go free than to put an Innocent man to death, put yourself in the Innocent mans shoes, spend the rest of your life in prison with everyone thinking you are evil, even your own family.. now if someone killed someone in my family and they were let free, even that is better than them putting the wrong man to death, i may go kill the guilty man myself and face the consequences but the Innocent should never suffer in the name of justice Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

ian r	Jailing someone who is innocent is a far bigger crime. A freed guilty person has the opportunity to get himself back into jail. A Jailed innocent person does not have any opporunities for anything. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Direktor	Prosecuting an innocent person............... Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

itry007	Wow. What a question. I'd have to say jail an innocent. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

SARcasm,RN	jailing the innocent Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

So_many_questions	I would say jailing someone innocent. There is a chance that the guilty person has changed their life, repented, etc. There are numerous situations where you can be justified in freeing a person who commited a crime, but I can't think of one for jailing someone who is truly innocent. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No