Mafiosi or socially responsible citizen?

[xoggoth]

I was reading our free local paper tonight. A father and grandfather had been charged with providing a false alibi for the son who was accused of downloading child porn. They falsely claimed it could not have been him as he was at a family party at the time.

I find this an interesting subject, to what extent would you go to protect a family member if you knew they were guilty of some serious crime like rape or murder?

Me, I am a Mafiosi, my wife and sons could slaughter the entire population of the Earth and I would still protect them.

[MrRobin]

Me, I am a Mafiosi, my wife and sons could slaughter the entire population of the Earth and I would still protect them.

But Xog, you hate the entire population of the Earth! They would be doing you a favour!

I probably wouldn't go out and report them, but I wouldn't lie either - if directly questioned I would tell the truth.

[TheFaQQer]

Depends on the crime, I guess.

This one, I'd grass the little **** up, after giving him a sound beating first.

[Ruprect]

Me, I am a Mafiosi, my wife and sons could slaughter the entire population of the Earth and I would still protect them.

If they did that, the you wouldn't have anyone to answer to, except yourselves, so this is a bit of a moot point.

[MrRobin]

If they did that, the you wouldn't have anyone to answer to, except yourselves, so this is a bit of a moot point.

Haha, yeah reminds me of the Blackadder sketch with the mad old witch... "3, Kill everybody else in the whole world!"

[Zorba]

It's interesting that the focus here is on what you'd do faced with the authorities/external questioning, and not on what you'd do to the miscreant themselves.

A stupid approach would be to defend the family member to the proverbial death and then just make excuses to yourself for their behaviour, without any real chastisement.

Another stupid approach would be to immediately turn them over to the authorities straight away and wash your hands of them. The authorities (police, criminal etc) are a stats machine that do not have the individual's welfare at heart - they won't have the best turnaround on getting them back on their feet and into useful society.

Or you could cover for them where reasonable, and then administer sufficient punishment yourself if you're capable of doing so.

In the case of the original story, I would be tempted to go with the gimp approach - deny all to the authorities but lock the kid up in the cellar with no internet for a few years - however, I would most definitely have to look at the extent of the problem first given that it can lead to much more horrible crimes, and seriously consider turning the son in. How old was the son? How long had this been happening?

Parents and families have responsibilities to their children which are often shirked in this day and age; sure, they need to protect them, but they need to protect them in all ways, not least protecting them from themselves!

[Old Greg]

Not sure what I'd do until I was in that situation.

Does anyone remember Jack Straw marching his son down to the cop shop for dealing in cannabis. I thought that was a pretty scummy thing to do.

[wobbegong]

Not sure what I'd do until I was in that situation.

Does anyone remember Jack Straw marching his son down to the cop shop for dealing in cannabis. I thought that was a pretty scummy thing to do.

Scummy, but unavoidable in his position. When you're in the public eye on a morality ticket you can't overlook this sort of thing. If it'd got out after the event that he knew but did nothing, his position would be untenable.

[xoggoth]

Hooray! Mafiosi running ahead of responsible citizens! Excellent.