The surviving members of "Laughing Coffin" should've been put on trial upon awakening from SAO

Yes, we are talking about Japan. However, it is presumable that the Japanese legal system is very similar to that of the United States. They operate by a liberal, modern legal code which is likely comparable to what we've got here. 1. Responsibility The capacity to have a player killed in real life was set up by Kayaba Akihiko. I admit to this; it was never any secret. Without his device in place, fulfilling those conditions would not result in anyone's death. I acknowledge his part in the deaths. Indeed, he has the greatest responsibility for the player deaths, and without him none of it would've happened. I don't know what the part involving the young child is about; the members of Laughing Coffin were fully aware of what they were doing. Let's make it a more realistic scenario: A man (representing the LC member) wants to shoot up a school (the other players who are not with LC). However, he is not able to do so because the law won't allow him to possess a gun (the real world law deters him from killing in real bad). However, a man (Akihiko Kayaba) gives him a gun and locks the doors to the school with the psychopath inside (traps the players inside the game, gives the Psychopath the means to kill another player by setting up conditions that will result in the player deaths if he follows them, outside of the law's watchful eye). Kayaba set up the conditions, and the scenario for the killing to happen. However, the deaths happened solely because of the LC players made the choice to cause those conditions to follow. If we are to follow my opponent's logic, throwing somebody off a cliff to their doom should not be illegal because it was gravity that directly killed them and the pusher simply made the conditions for gravity to kill the victim come to pass. This line of reasoning is absurd, to be frank. 2. Evidence By no means is Kirito the only witness. Several THOUSAND players survived SAO. At least 2 of them would be able to testify that the person in question was with LC, seeing as within the game wanted posters were put out to identify LC players. The Japanese Government has been implied to already know who all the Laughing Coffin veterans were. This is irrelevant, overall. 3. Deterrence I concede defeat in the category of deterrence. This portion of the debate alone. 4. Implausible? I have already shown that evidence is not a problem. They were with LC, and thus they likely killed someone (otherwise, would LC let them join?) Besides, if you're fighting for ISIS, even if you haven't killed anyone, just being a member of ISIS makes you guilty. Hundreds of former players could confirm someone was with Laughing Coffin; what more evidence is needed? Oh, and earlier on in the debate, my opponent pointed out that Kirito and other "good guys" killed people within SAO. Seeing as they were basically playing the role of executioner (when done under the law it is not paramount to murder), and also a defender (they came simply to arrest the Laughing Coffin members whenever they attacked; by this point Kirito's actions were in self-defense), I don't see what the issue would be. Kirito was simply trying to arrest murderers, and perhaps under the "law" of SAO he'd execute them for their crimes, but what he did was nowhere near morally equivalent to the actions of the Laughing Coffin members. However, even if I were to concede that Kirito and the other protagonists were murderers, it would change little, as this debate is about Laughing Coffin. 5. Rehabilitation We could debate whether or not the law should seek rehabilitation or justice for murderers, but even if I shared your stance on this, it would make no difference. What is a trial? Well, a trial is whenever a court examines the case of the alleged crime of an individual and, if the individual is found to be guilty, decides on what is to be done about it. If somebody was arrested for drunk driving and the judge sentences/court orders them to rehab, it's still a trial. In fact, without such a trial, the law cannot force them to undergo rehabilitation. Let me be clear: the title of this debate is NOT "The former members of Laughing Coffin should be put on trial and sent to prison". In fact, because of this, if there was no proof that somebody was with LC, he would be cleared of all charges during the trial (key word being trial), so that still would provide no problem for Pro. My opponent has accepted a position which is nearly impossible to defend, and as a result the arguments that he has been able to develop have no solid foundation. I have just destroyed the foundation of nearly his entire case, and here's to hoping that he can recover his case during the next round. I await his response. Source: http://swordartonline.wikia.com... http://swordartonline.wikia.com...