# Is this stealing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 27, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-stealing/465502 "2008-09-27T22:51:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-stealing/465502/21 "2008-09-28T08:32:58Z")
[Stealing by finding](http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/guilty-banker-could-have-had-250000-in-the-bag/2005/10/11/1128796507054.html) From the link: Clifford, who lives in the Sydney suburb of Chippendale, said he didn’t know what to do with the money when he found it, but pleaded guilty in Downing Central Local Court to **stealing by finding** after failing to hand in the cash. So it’s definitely a crime in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-stealing/465502/22 "2008-09-28T10:26:19Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > And what about a more ambiguous situation where you witness the money falling from his pocket while you’re on the second floor of an office building. If you sprint down the stairs you _might_ be able to catch the owner. Does it change anything if you’re really tired and/or sick, and not in good condition to be sprinting? If you’re that far away/sick, then you’re probably too far away/sick to go down and bag it for yourself, in which case no theft. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-stealing/465502/23 "2008-09-28T10:30:57Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > [Stealing by finding](http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/guilty-banker-could-have-had-250000-in-the-bag/2005/10/11/1128796507054.html) > > From the link: > > Clifford, who lives in the Sydney suburb of Chippendale, said he didn’t know what to do with the money when he found it, but pleaded guilty in Downing Central Local Court to **stealing by finding** after failing to hand in the cash. > > So it’s definitely a crime in Australia. Unless they’ve changed the law over here, it’s a crime in the UK too - it certainly was the last I knew about it. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-stealing/465502/24 "2008-09-28T11:26:52Z")
It’s stealing. I teach my pupils morals by using examples like that. Their initial ‘justifications’ for keeping the money include: - finders, keepers - they’re stupid and deserve to be robbed - I need the money more than they do - someone else would steal it if I didn’t If someone leaves their bag open and it’s easy to get their wallet, is that stealing? ☹ If an elderly person falls over and drops their money, is taking it stealing? :eek: If someone has a heart attack and dies, is taking their money stealing? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-stealing/465502/25 "2008-09-28T15:07:22Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > If you’re that far away/sick, then you’re probably too far away/sick to go down and bag it for yourself, in which case no theft. But maybe it’s an all-out sprint for the possibility of catching the owner. Do you have a moral obligation to do absolutely everything in your power in a situation like this? I probably would myself, but I don’t know that I’d be willing to go so far as to label it a moral imperative. I think a reasonable effort is all you can ask of the average person. ---
**Author:** ![sugar\_and\_spice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@sugar\_and\_spice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugar_and_spice)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-stealing/465502/26 "2008-09-28T16:05:31Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > [Stealing by finding](http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/guilty-banker-could-have-had-250000-in-the-bag/2005/10/11/1128796507054.html) > > From the link: > > Clifford, who lives in the Sydney suburb of Chippendale, said he didn’t know what to do with the money when he found it, but pleaded guilty in Downing Central Local Court to **stealing by finding** after failing to hand in the cash. > > So it’s definitely a crime in Australia. I dunno, I don’t think that’s quite the same thing: > [@](#): > > But the magistrate told Sean Clifford, 23, he would have been entitled to keep the money - which has never been claimed - if he had reported his find to authorities. Suppose he had actually seen a guy in a suit leave a briefcase on a bench, watched him walk away, counted to 1,000, and _then_ picked up the bag and took it to the police station with a full description of who he had seen. And suppose he did this on purpose, knowing the odds of keeping the money are better this way than if he ran after the guy in the first place. My interpretation of the article is that this would not be a crime, since he did report what he found. But he would still be guilty of the same act in the OP, which is not doing anything to stop the actual loss from happening in the first place. So I’m inclined to say it’s wrong but not stealing. I assume the OP is referring to a situation where the money cannot reasonably be returned to the owner once they are out of sight, ie, a busy city intersection, and not the work cafeteria. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-stealing/465502/27 "2008-09-29T01:43:15Z")
That’s interesting; I would have thought that if you could reasonably let someone know, you should, but I didn’t think it was stealing not to do so. Not morally ethical, but not prosecutable by law. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-stealing/465502/28 "2008-09-29T06:17:40Z")
Of course it’s stealing. If the person realizes the money is gone and comes back for it, you have deprived them of it. Is it the worst kind of stealing there is? No, of course not. Stealing a million dollars is much worse than stealing one dollar, and whatever punishment there is or guilt one should feel should be appropriately proportioned. But they are both stealing. ---
**Author:** ![djamel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@djamel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djamel)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-stealing/465502/29 "2008-09-29T07:21:13Z")
Yes it is stealing especially when you see how it is dropped in the first place. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-stealing/465502.md?page=1)