Yeah, I got it backwards.
The nuns taught me that the only thing that matters is your own immortal soul. It is wrong to commit a sin...punish an innocent man. No ifs ands or buts about it. If others commit a sin...those 10 guilty folks...their sin is on them. As would be any future sins they commit. I would guess that's a basic tenet of Christianity. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Also, ends don't justify the means.
That's the moral argument.
The practical argument is that, if folks don't have faith in the system of justice, then, that would tend to reduce our faith and commitment to society as a whole. In the long run, causing more damage than those freed guilty folks do.
I would add that if you have a justice system that is so screwed up that it can't get better than 90% accuracy in convicting the guilty, then, you should be focused on fixing your lousy system rather than wringing your hands about how many murderers it lets go free.
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“Science is like sex: sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it.†– Richard Feynman
