Consider the following scenario. It is now the year 2525. The US government (or the One World Govt., or whatever) can and does read everyone’s mind, all the time.
What will this mean human civilization? Will life be better because of it? Will it in some ways be worse? Crime will certainly be non-existent. Will the ends justify the means?
Also consider the following factor: Will victimless crimes even be prosecuted anymore? Reading someone’s mind and prosecuting them just for lighting a joint or soliciting a prostitute seems pretty stupid. How will this effect the body of law at the time?
I’d guess that the kinds of people who would allow and support a government with mind-reading tech would just LOVE to prosecute crimes against morality, so victimlessness will mean nothing.
If “crime will certainly be non-existent” then the question of prosecuting victimless crimes won’t arise, since no victimless crimes (or crimes of any other sort) will be committed.
But I don’t see why you assume that “crime will certainly be non-existent”. Sure, the government’s mind-reading capacity should improve detection rates considerably, but people commit crimes even in circumstances where detection is highly likely, either because they are desperate or because detection and what follows is a price they are willing to pay or because they’re just not good at impulse control. Besides, there will certainly be a resistance movement against a government deploying such intrusive power, and the acts of that movement are highly likely to be criminalised by the government, so there’ll be crimes right there. Lots of 'em, I suspect.
Would victimless crimes be prosucuted? Sure, why not? Whatever reason there is for making the acts concerned criminal - whether it’s a good reason or a bad one - doesn’t magically evaporate just because detection got a lot easier.
