16. Justification: Necessity

Question 1

Justification

Answer 1

you are justified even though you technically violated the criminal law

Question 2

Excuse

Answer 2

you did violate criminal law, regret what you did, but cannot punish you because reasonable members of the community would have been likely to succumb to the threats

Question 3

Common law (Justification: Necessity)

Answer 3

did not permit necessity to justify killing an innocent person to avoid another evil

Question 4

MPC and modern statutes (Justification: Necessity)

Answer 4

say that defense of necessity or choice of evils may be raised where one innocent person is killed to save others

Question 5

Regina v. Dudley & Stephens

Answer 5

• Seamen on yacht cast away in a storm, hadn’t eaten in days, ate the cabin boy, later they were rescued, probably would not have survived without eating him
• Court found them guilty of murder, rejected necessity, temptation not a defense
• Power imbalance, cabin boy not consulted

Relevant for natural disasters (Katrina- dr who killed patients)