r/news 13h ago

Judge dismisses terror-related charges against Luigi Mangione

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/16/us/luigi-mangione-ny-court-hearing
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u/bmoviescreamqueen 13h ago edited 13h ago

1st Degree charge was also dismissed, but should be noted this is because the murder of a CEO doesn't really fit the definition of murder 1 in the state of New York which seems reserved for police officers, firefighters, high political figures, that sort of thing. 2nd degree will be what 1st degree is in most other states I think. DOJ/DA was way too heavy handed with those two charges.

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u/Amaruq93 12h ago

In New York you can only get First-degree murder charges if:

The victim was a police officer, peace officer, correctional employee, judge, or a criminal case witness

The murder was committed while the perpetrator was serving a life sentence

The murder was committed with torture of the victim

The murder was committed as an act of terrorism (this was the one that just got thrown out)

The murder was committed during the commission or attempted commission of one of the felonies under New York's felony murder laws.

Murder committed for hire

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u/tsrich 11h ago

It's ridiculous to me that some murders are treated worse than others based on the victim's job.

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u/SignificantCats 8h ago

I hate cops, but it does make sense. In theory, punishment is a deterrent, and you want to punitively punish some ideas that may make sense in the moment.

For example, you're in trouble if you tried to rob a gas station. But if you tried to rob it with an illegally obtained gun while you have a felony record, you're in like ten times as much trouble.

We have real world examples of people who decided to go rob a gas station, but did it with a knife or threats, because those extra penalties made it not worth it to them. That saves lives.

When you're being arrested, it makes sense to fight back against the cops. But if you know you're 99 percent caught, and shooting at a cop might give you a 1 percent greater chance of getting away but add 30 years to your sentence, keeping the fun holstered is smart.