Punishing an innocent to keep the peace?
H. J. McCloskey · 1957
A small town is on the brink of a riot. The crowd, convinced that a murder by an outsider will go unpunished, threatens to burn everything down, killing several people, unless a culprit is handed over. The sheriff knows that none of his suspects did anything, but he holds a man he could credibly have convicted. By sacrificing him he would likely save several lives and restore order; by refusing, he honors the truth, but lets the carnage happen.
In his place, would you hand over the innocent to save the others? And if punishment is justified only by its effects, what still forbids doing so?