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[trustinthedevil]

I mean, it's a start, but do we say that a man who chooses to shoplift a pack of beer is better because he decided not to steal the money in the cash register?

[ Matt's brow furrows a bit. ]

He didn't put anyone's life in danger this time, but he still broke the law.

[heyboss]

Now you're getting philosophical. What is the impact of the pack of beer versus the money in the register? Was he armed in both scenarios?

[He smiles.]

[trustinthedevil]

We needed a hypothetical situation to get going. Let's say he was armed both times. Does that negate that, when taking the beer, he probably was pretty distant from the clerk and didn't immediately cause any threat or harm? And knowing that a pack of beer costs the store less than the loss of the cash.

[ Matt smiles, too. This is the best conversation he's had so far. It reminds him a bit of law school, back and forth conversations with Foggy at bars when they should have been studying for exams. ]

[heyboss]

You can't take the distance from the clerk into consideration. The presence of a gun introduces an intent for potential deadly harm, no matter if a bullet is fired or not.

What's the motivation for stealing?

[Sheehan's having a great time, actually. These sorts of thought experiments keep him going.]

[trustinthedevil]

Sure, but having a gun waved directly in your face is going to cause more distress just by nature of proximity.

[ He taps his fingers on the table for a moment. ]

Let's put him in a position for empathy. He's had a hard time recently, down on his luck. Taking the money puts him in financial gain, maybe he can feed his kids tonight. Taking the beer is self-serving. Does taking the beer become a greater offense because it's selfish?

[heyboss]

Well, here we're talking about a desperate man with a weapon, threatening the life of another person for his kids against a man who is going to commit armed robbery for beer, which means that he might feel just as desperate.

You can't compare the size of two men's feelings.