Is it a crime to encourage crime?

[Bitter Ashes]

I'm talking about the law, rather than the moral side of things as we're all well aware that the law in a capitalist society is rarely anythig to do with justice.

The question is, would it be illegal, or even criminal, to encourage other to commit crimes?

To go further into that, there's a split between criminal law and civil law in the UK. Is it illegal to encourage either, or is it okay to encourage civil offences, or does the law come down on it hard for both? What kind of charges would be put against you for encouraging people to break the law?

[Sasha]

dont know about england (you lot have an insane lawsystem) but over here yes, a big yes. You are here often even more severly punished than the ppl doing the actual crime.

[brigadista]

it would be conspiracy and if found guilty it carries a big sentence

[Bitter Ashes]

it would be conspiracy and if found guilty it carries a big sentence
Damn. Thanks for the information anyway.

That kills that idea off lol.

[Rusty Shackleford]

yeah its a conspiracy to commit a crime or to provoke crime.

[Bitter Ashes]

Does this apply to civil offences too? Such as encouraging people not to pay tax, or to squatt properties?

[Sasha]

i think it is, incitement or sommething, but i think if you wrap it in an nice political message and call it civil-disobedience they would (rightly) think its better to leave you alonone then give you an courtcase (and another platform to spout your politics)

[brigadista]

Does this apply to civil offences too? Such as encouraging people not to pay tax, or to squatt properties?


you better get a good lawyer lol

[JazzRemington]

You're better off asking a lawyer if you want a good answer. There's also message boards that are run and populated by lawyers, so they can probably answer your question.

[Lacrimi de Chiciură]

I read an article in the newspaper recently encouraging shoplifting, and didn't hear about anything bad happening to the author. This is in the US though.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I think it is a crime, but whether you get charged with it is another matter entirely. Probably depends a lot on what your encouraging...publishing something that encourages people to assassinate high-ranking government officials is obviously going to be treated differently than something that encourages drug use, for example.

(Speaking about U.S. laws, here.)

[The Ungovernable Farce]

I think you can get around it quite a lot. Schnews, Resistance and Class War haven't been shut down yet, after all. I think it's usually worth adding a disclaimer along the lines of "all information provided here is for entertainment and educational purposes only and is not intended to encourage criminal acts".

[Dooga Aetrus Blackrazor]

Don't you have to do it in a certain way? Otherwise, a decent lawyer can get you off the hook. For instance, the guy who says "Hey, you should kill X because of reasons Y and Z" gets a sentence.

The guy who says, "Chapter 1: America is a Corrupt Government. Chapter 2: Corrupt Governments Should be Stopped. Chapter 3: Morally speaking, it's acceptable and perhaps obligatory to do violent crime Y. Disclaimer: This book is meant to be understood in a theoretically context, and it does not advocate breaking laws."

I think the second person can get away with it. I mean, political writers on the left and right, philosophers, etc, all advocate breaking laws in certain cases. They just don't go up to a guy and say "Hey, you, do this..."

Now public speaking/rallies have to be more vague, but literature is fairly safe if done correctly.

[mikelepore]

In the U.S. the law uses a guideline called "imminent threat." It's legal to say, "One of these days someone ought to beat up Mike", but it's illegal to say, "We should gather at the Main Street bus stop next Friday at noon so that we can beat up Mike." The first isn't about an imminent event, but the second is. That's why Nazi groups are legal. They word their threats in a way that the suggested violence isn't imminent. They are careful always to say "one of these days someone ought to...."

There are two main exceptions to this. One is the president. Never make even a little joke about some harm or ill fortune coming to any president. The second exception is when you are in an airplane or airport. The smallest remark about violence may be treated as a crime. A few years ago, an airline customer bought a paperback book in the airport bookstore, a popular mystery novel with a picture of a bomb on the cover, and later got arrested for reading it on the plane.

[Dimentio]

I'm talking about the law, rather than the moral side of things as we're all well aware that the law in a capitalist society is rarely anythig to do with justice.

The question is, would it be illegal, or even criminal, to encourage other to commit crimes?

To go further into that, there's a split between criminal law and civil law in the UK. Is it illegal to encourage either, or is it okay to encourage civil offences, or does the law come down on it hard for both? What kind of charges would be put against you for encouraging people to break the law?

Depends on what type of crime. I'll guess its varying between countries as well.

For example if I would go around and try to persuade people to murder or rape others, I would probably get a criminal sentence. If I instead try to persuade them to not pay their bus tickets, I wouldn't be in any trouble at all.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I think you can get around it quite a lot. Schnews, Resistance and Class War haven't been shut down yet, after all. I think it's usually worth adding a disclaimer along the lines of "all information provided here is for entertainment and educational purposes only and is not intended to encourage criminal acts".

Haha, yeah, Fire To The Prisons does that, too...anyone who reads it knows that they're disclaimer about not encouraging/condoning criminal activity is not entirely truthful.