Would you lie in court to protect a family member or friend you knew was guilty?

[La Tortuga Manuelita]

Is it more important to be honest or to support the person you care about?

[facade]

For me, I think it would really depend on the situation (what happened? why did we/they have to go to court?). Also, it might depend on how close I am to that family member/friend.

[TheWhiteTornado]

If I knew for a fact they were guilty I'd almost definitely admit it. Only time I wouldn't would be in a situation in which it had a righteous motivation (random example: stealing food to feed starving kids or something).

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

I wouldn't lie because there's the risk I may be caught lying or the person may turn on me. I haven't been convicted of any crime and have a clean criminal record, so I'd like to keep it that way. If it's a person I care about, then the most I would do is help fund legal services. If it's not a severe crime (i.e. not indictable offense or greater), then I would also not testify against them and may help find evidence in their defense (depending how I feel about the charge and trial). If it is an indictable offense or greater, then I may testify against them IFF the evidence and arguments are not strong enough without it but I would not lie during my testimony.

[volleyballchick751]

If i knew they were guilty then no way. They have to be responsible for their own actions.

[dr2005]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my answer is definitely no - for one thing, perjury is a criminal offence and one which can land you in prison for quite a long time in some circumstances. I will support my family members and friends to the hilt throughout the proceedings, but if I am called to the stand under oath then I must abide by that oath. Otherwise, my integrity as a human being is completely destroyed.

[ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST]

I say NO. If you did it you DESERVE the punishment that goes with the crime. I do not care who you are. Now would I visit them while they were doing their time yes. However I would NOT lie to save them from time. This is BOTH morally and LEGALLY wrong.

[Cosmo]

Depends on the crime they're accused of.

Something like murder, no, I would gladly do all I could to help prosecute them.
Something that was illegal but morally right, such as stealing to survive, I would lie, yes.

[Nicole!]

I don't think I would lie because not only would they be in trouble, I would be too. Even if I was really close with them, they commit some kind of crime and it wouldn't be fair.

However if it was something that they had to do and didn't really affect anyone else, then I would probably try and help them.

[InTheFlood]

I would be honest for most people, I think there's only one person I would consider lying for.

[Anthropomorphic]

Aside from the threat of perjury, this is basically a question of morality versus loyalty.

Regardless of who the person was, if they did something wrong, I would speak the truth to the court. However, I could also be used as a character witness in stating that what they had done wrong was something that they thought needed to be done. Not all wrongdoings go without fair justification.

[JKmadu619]

It depends. If it was for murder/stealing/rape then they are sure as hell going to jail.

Something minor like a parking ticket I MIGHT let slide.

- Justin

[ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST]

Originally Posted by JKmadu619

It depends. If it was for murder/stealing/rape then they are sure as hell going to jail.

Something minor like a parking ticket I MIGHT let slide.

- Justin

Usually you do not go to court for a parking ticket. unless you are there to fight it.

[dredear]

Originally Posted by I love dogs

Usually you do not go to court for a parking ticket. unless you are there to fight it.

If you didn't pay you'd have to go.

[ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST]

Originally Posted by dredear

If you didn't pay you'd have to go.

but usually people just pay and do not even fight.

[l0stCause]

yes, yes i would

[ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST]

Originally Posted by l0stCause

yes, yes i would

Why? Would it depend on what they did?

[Dream]

It depends who it was and what they did, but most likely the answer is yes. There is virtue in that I think.

[Lugez]

It depends. I think rape would be the only constant in which I wouldn't lie in court. I wouldn't actively prosecute the family member either, unless it was highly necessary.

Anything else (even murder) would depend on the situation. Like the nature of the crime, why my family member did it, etc. Then I would make my decision to help or not. If I decide yes, I would try to help the person as much as I could, but I would leave the perjury thing as a LAST case scenario. Not only because I'm a terrible liar, but because I also don't want to risk getting in trouble. But I may risk it, depending on how I felt about the case.

Again...It depends. There's so many factors into this that I really can't give a straight answer.

[dr2005]

To those saying they would lie in such circumstances: Do you feel that such a course of action undermines the justice system and the notion of equality before the law? If not, why not? If so, would that affect your answer?

[Dez]

I'd probably be honest no matter what. I don't want to get in serious trouble for what they did.

[Kate*]

I wouldn't lie. Aside from the fact that I'm really bad at it and I'd probably get caught, if people do something then they deserve the consequences that come with it helping them avoid that isn't helping them because they are less likely to learn

There might be an extremely rare or unusual situation where this wouldn't apply, but I still don't think I could lie for someone no matter who it was.

[Cosmo]

Originally Posted by dr2005

To those saying they would lie in such circumstances: Do you feel that such a course of action undermines the justice system and the notion of equality before the law? If not, why not? If so, would that affect your answer?

I don't believe all laws are fair. i don't believe all laws should be in place, nor that all punishments are fitting to the crime. Some are over-proportional to the crime (such as $100000000 for pirating one movie). If I don't believe the law is fair, I may lie. Depends if I'd get caught. If I wasn't going to get caught, and I didn't feel the law was right, I would lie. I don't see an inherent benefit of the law at all, honestly. Most humans govern themselves perfectly. Eg. road laws were already in practise before they were made into official punishable law for decades.

[MegaMadness]

It honestly depends on the situation and the person for me.

[dr2005]

Originally Posted by MonsterCosmonaut

I don't believe all laws are fair. i don't believe all laws should be in place, nor that all punishments are fitting to the crime. Some are over-proportional to the crime (such as $100000000 for pirating one movie). If I don't believe the law is fair, I may lie. Depends if I'd get caught. If I wasn't going to get caught, and I didn't feel the law was right, I would lie. I don't see an inherent benefit of the law at all, honestly. Most humans govern themselves perfectly. Eg. road laws were already in practise before they were made into official punishable law for decades.

I've not heard of $100m sanctions being applied in such cases, so if you could provide an example I would be interested in looking further into it. On the wider point, I was talking about the system in general and not specific statutes (which can and are overturned or set aside), and as to the inherent benefit of the law the main one is clarity. People know exactly where they stand on a given situation, and if someone decides to take people for a ride they can be held to account. On the road laws point, traffic regulations as we understand them nowadays developed contemporaneously with the onset of mass motorised transport; prior to that point there was no need for specific regulations as other laws covered them. But this is getting off topic so I'll stop there.

[Troubled_Heart]

I would lie for the special people in my life!

[thebigmole]

Well it certainly depends. Say if I was raped and my brother went out and beat the crap out of the guy who did it, sure I would lie for him. For one thing I would feel responsible for him doing the crime in the first place. Even if he had killed him I would probably lie. However only if I honestly thought it would help, I mean if they had his fingerprints or video there would be no point in my lying.

However it does really piss me off that Casey Anthony's mother Cindy lied for her about that internet search. No matter what the verdict that bitch killed her daughter and for Cindy to choose her sociopath daughter over her innocent granddaughter really upsets me.

[Composure]

I would cheat the system. The problem with cheating the system is this sort of thing happens all the time; jurors and justices can pretty much see through a fairly shit alibi - and one of the things I was told by my Evidence and Procedure lecturer is that no matter what, family members are never good at providing at an alibi because, quite simply, they'd do anything to keep you out of jail (most of the time).

[Pelios]

I would not lie but I would help them with the lawyer fees get them the best lawyers so they have a good chance in court.

[Tara.]

It'd depend on the crime. But most likely I'd lie. If someone was killed or raped, of course not. But I could see myself being willing to lie in certain situations.

[Thomas_TGT]

Tell the truth, always. Lies always have a way of being exposed.

[Cosmo]

Originally Posted by larrel1

Tell the truth, always. Lies always have a way of being exposed.

Totally this. You'll get caught out. I'd only lie if I somehow knew I'd get away with it.

[ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST]

For those who say they would not lie are you basing that off moral or secular grounds?

[Xujhan]

Originally Posted by ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST

For those who say they would not lie are you basing that off moral or secular grounds?

For the record: moral grounds and secular grounds are not mutually exclusive (secular people have morals, obviosuly). I think you meant to divide either religious/secular or moral/pragmatic.

For me, it would just depend on the circumstances. If it was something they were properly guilty of, I would tell the truth. My loyalty doesn't override my morality. However if I felt they were being unjustly prosecuted, I would at least consider lying to protect them.

[ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST]

Originally Posted by Xujhan

For the record: moral grounds and secular grounds are not mutually exclusive (secular people have morals, obviosuly). I think you meant to divide either religious/secular or moral/pragmatic.

For me, it would just depend on the circumstances. If it was something they were properly guilty of, I would tell the truth. My loyalty doesn't override my morality. However if I felt they were being unjustly prosecuted, I would at least consider lying to protect them.

no, I mean like would you not lie for moral reasons because you feel that it is wrong OR because you were afraid of getting caught and prosecuted yourself?

[Xujhan]

Originally Posted by ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST

no, I mean like would you not lie for moral reasons because you feel that it is wrong OR because you were afraid of getting caught and prosecuted yourself?

Those are both secular reasons; the division you wanted to ask about was between morality and pragmatism.

[ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST]

Originally Posted by Xujhan

Those are both secular reasons; the division you wanted to ask about was between morality and pragmatism.

no, right and wrong is moral, but just I do not want to be arrested looked down upon ECT is secular.

[Xujhan]

Originally Posted by ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST

no, right and wrong is moral, but just I do not want to be arrested looked down upon ECT is secular.

sec·u·lar

adjective

1. of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred; temporal: secular interests.
2. not pertaining to or connected with religion (opposed to sacred): secular music.
3. (of education, a school, etc.) concerned with nonreligious subjects.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/secular


prag·mat·ic

adjective

1. of or pertaining to a practical point of view or practical considerations.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pragmatic

[♥ Choir. ♥]

It wouldn't depend on the person for me, at least I don't think it would, it'd depend on the velocity of what happened. If it is something serious, I'd tell the truth, if it wasn't, I'd try to protect them.

[PSY]

Why should the punishment for a crime be changed or erased, simply because I have a personal connection to a person? If someone has done something bad, then they should have to make restitution, whether it's financial in nature or serving time in prison. Rather than lying in court about what a family member did, I would ask that family member why they broke the law to begin with.