The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Chapter 9: At Least You Tried
Page 18: Abandoned Attempt
Continuum from “Probably Not” to “??” to “Probably”
You’re going to wind up penalizing people who, for whatever reason, wouldn’t have actually committed the offense in the end.
The greater the distance from the crime, the less sure we are that the crime was ever really going to happen.
Fedora Man changing his mind
So there has to be an “out.” Some kind of safeguard.
A chance to abandon the attempt.
Average Joe talking head
AVERAGE JOE
You want to give people a chance—an incentive, even—to decide not to do the harm.
[SUGGESTED EDIT: Start this page with the last phrase from the previous page, so above the continuum drawing it says “Now, the closer the line is drawn to the “idea” end of the spectrum, the more likely it is to cause some unfair results.”]
I’m guessing this is the opposite of Entrapment.
Maybe loosely. I kind of doubt that, upon discovering that you’re planning to hurt someone, the cops would typically give you the opportunity to do so and see if you take it.