Quote Originally Posted by Burney View Post
Well if you regard law as a means to protect society, one could argue that the attempted murderer should serve just as long as the successful killer. After all, the person has demonstrated a willingness and desire to kill, which makes them no less dangerous to the public at large than if they'd succeeded. There, it seems to me, is where our insistence on consequence-based sentencing falls down badly.
If we are protecting society from his murderous intent I would rather be protected from the chap who is good at it, but I take your point.

You could also argue that the guy who ****ed it up has learned his lesson and is less likely to **** it up next time.