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15 April 2011

It's time for the Friday Night Question, chosen at random from The Book of Questions.→[More:]

#202: Would you be willing to commit perjury for a close friend? For example, might you testify that he was driving carefully when he hit a pedestrian even though he had been joking around and not paying attention?

post by: BoringPostcards at: 18:04 | 19 comments

Nope. I believe in accountability, and while I would tell a white lie while outside of a courtroom, when it comes time for someone to pay the piper and if I knew something that would help someone achieve justice, I'd tell the truth.

posted by TrishaLynn 15 April | 18:11

Absolutely not. Why should someone escape the consequences of their actions if they've caused harm to someone else through their own stupidity or fault?

posted by Senyar 15 April | 18:16

No. That was easy.

posted by wens 15 April | 18:18

Not unless the law was unjust or it was a monkey trial.

posted by Eideteker 15 April | 18:20

Nope.

posted by deborah 15 April | 18:23

I'm reluctant on principle to say "absolutely never," but no, not in any situation my imagination has so far been able to serve up.

posted by tangerine 15 April | 18:35

Yeah, I agree with tangerine -- in theory, certainly not, but one hates to state absolutes.

posted by JanetLand 15 April | 18:50

What Eid said.

posted by Specklet 15 April | 18:58

I was in this position when I was a young adult, sort of: someone close to me wanted me to lie to the police for him, to confirm his otherwise unsubstantiated account. (He didn't want an alibi, but a witness to his demeanor at a specific time.) He was angry I said no; he was angry that he tried to manipulate me into such a bad position.

Even in my legal negotiations with the driver who hit me (when I might have gained plenty from even small lies), I was scrupulously honest and careful in my statements, not only because it was right, but because our legal system relies upon it.

posted by Elsa 15 April | 19:18

It would depend very much on the case in question. Normally - absolutely not. That said, I can think of at least one or two situations where I wouldn't have the slightest qualm about lying my arse off.

posted by ninazer0 15 April | 19:46

No. The only circumstance in which I think I might do this is if I felt the law was unjust.

posted by peacheater 15 April | 22:09

It doesn't matter if I would want to or not, I couldn't do it. If I tried to lie on stand, my ears would turn bright red and I'd start stammering and I'd totally lose it. I'm pretty much the worst liar ever.

posted by octothorpe 15 April | 22:15

No. Like Elsa, I am too conscious that justice relies on truth, first and foremost. I can imagine situations where I might want to do this but I don't think I could make myself do it.

Even in the case of unjust law, I'm not sure that by lying I would be helping to weaken that law. In a way, by not telling the truth I could instead strengthen it, by treating my friend as a particular case and just trying to get them off as an individual, rather than identifying the problem as a flaw in the law rather than in the person. In other words, I would testify honestly about whether the letter of the law was broken, but do what I could to call the spirit of the law into question.

posted by Miko 15 April | 22:34

I can't lie. I'm not even capable of lying enough to get someone to a surprise party without giving it away. One hopes that with my feelings about lying (Don't. Ever.) compounded by my inability to lie, no one would ever be foolish enough to ASK me to.

posted by galadriel 15 April | 22:44

Yes, depending. The given example wouldn't sway me, but if I felt there were extenuating circumstances, then yes, I'd choose loyalty over impersonal justice.

posted by occhiblu 15 April | 23:04

I couldn't. I mean, I'd suck at it, even if I wanted to.

posted by gaspode 16 April | 00:09

In the example given, no. In other circumstances? Probably, but it would depend on how the balance between justice (as opposed to law) and loyalty falls. I don't think it's possible for me to answer unequivicaly to this one, sorry.

posted by dg 16 April | 06:01

I agree with ninazer0.

posted by amro 16 April | 10:03

Probably not. I'm not so confident to say OMG NO NEVER EVER. There could be some situation where we could get away with something worth getting away with for my friend, and then I might. But I hope not. I don't know if I'm that good a liar.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 16 April | 10:15

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