[Avodah] halachic attitude to the convicted

[Zev Sero]

> The theories of DMD are broad and have been discussed here many times.
>  AIUI if the King were to determine that crossing in the middle of the
> block had led to too many needless deaths that it needed to be punishable
> by 30 days in jail so as to keep an orderly safe, society, the broader
> definition of DMD (i.e. that it is not just limited to monetary issues)
> would put it into the category of "crimes that affect public safety" even
> though many might think it is not such an important issue.  Thus the
> labeling by the appropriate authority changed the "reality" from the day
> before the promulgation.

See, that is *exactly* what I am talking about.  One minute we're talking
about people who are threats to public safety, and the next minute someone
like this is being put in that category through semantic legerdemain.
There is *no way* that a serial jaywalker is a threat to public safety,
and therefore there is no heter at all to inform on him, and those who
claim that he is not an appropriate subject for pidyon shvuyim have a
tough case to make.

-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                     - Margaret Thatcher