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Trying to escape from prison made legal to promote freedom |
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Score
75%
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4 votes,
Feasibility
100%
Originality
100%
Humour
68% |
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The Problem:
The lack of true freedom in the world
The Social Invention:
Attempting to escape from prison is not considered a crime under Mexican law, because the legal system recognises that everyone has a basic desire to be free. Thus, anyone caught attempting to escape does not receive any additional punishment on top of their original sentence. This is part of a philosophy that runs through the country’s judicial system: that the accused is allowed to pursue freedom in any way possible.
It provides a final chance of justice in a corrupt and unfair systemThere are critics of the law who say that it demonstrates the weakness of the legal system in Mexico, but many support it as a humanitarian rule that respects people’s individual dignity. As one Supreme Court judge put it, “The basic desire for freedom is implicit inside every man, so trying to escape cannot be considered a crime”. Indeed, many believe that it provides a final chance of justice for some individuals, victims of what many consider to be a harsh, corrupt, and unfair system. Less easy to support, perhaps, is the related law that people lying about their own guilt on the stand are not considered to have committed perjury.
Nevertheless, the whole ethos of the system is an interesting one, with the human right to freedom at its core. Sister Antonia, a nun who has lived and worked in a prison in Tijuana for 25 years, calls the escape law “an extraordinary law, a charitable and spiritual law”, and there are many who agree with her. The president of Mexico’s Justice and Human Rights Committee has himself said that “freedom is given priority over other values, including prison security”. Although this all sounds very moral and humanitarian, would-be escaping prisoners should also note that prison guards are still permitted to shoot and kill anyone attempting an escape.
Summarised from an article by Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan, entitled ‘In Mexico, fleeing prison is no crime’, in the Seattle Times (November 17th 2002). This item was monitored for the Global Ideas Bank by Roger Knights. It originally appeared in the Washington Post.
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