14 DAY TRIAL // The other day, we learned that a South Carolina teacher set a good example for all people when she found a considerable amount of money on the side of the road and handed it to the police. Before that, news broke that a New Jersey woman was able to recover an expensive anniversary ring she had lost at the airport after a good Samaritan found it and turned it in. These pieces of news made me wonder: is honesty so rare these days it makes headlines?
Well, it seems that being honest with others and yourself can be challenging, as it may not always be the easiest or most convenient course to take, but it is the course of integrity.
I should probably make clear from the beginning that it is not my intention to teach a moral lesson through this article, but to make you think about what would be the right thing to do in a situation where you would have to choose between being honest and skipping principles.
There are situations when people forget about moral principles and act upon instinct. One example of such circumstance is when they happen to stumble upon cash or other expensive lost items on the street.
While some may hand in lost property to the authorities (it’s what I hope I would do in a similar situation, tempting as it might be to quietly hang on to the unexpected find), many others tend to seek justification in the popular adage “finders keepers, losers weepers.”
The childish chant, which is based on the premise that, when something is unowned or abandoned, whoever finds it can claim it, is actually so widely known and spread that people may decide to use it as a rule of behavior.
When finding a lost item, the first instinctive response is usually, “Oh, nice, I just got this thing for free!” It’s just basic human nature to feel this way, but I think you should not forget that someone just lost that thing you are so excited about. So, try to put yourself in their shoes for a second and think how you would feel if you lost something.
However, of particular difficulty for all potential finders is how to best define when exactly something is unowned or abandoned, which can lead to legal or ethical disputes.
Moreover, “finders keepers, losers weepers” has no legal basis. It is not the law and never has been. Property that has been lost or somehow mislaid still belongs to the initial owner, and keeping it is actually illegal, qualifying as a misdemeanor called “Theft or appropriation of lost or mislaid property.”
In the US, the laws in this regard are very different from state to state. In California, for instance, a finder can face criminal charges for not making an attempt to return lost property to its rightful owner, while in Illinois, surprisingly, theft of lost or mislaid property is punishable only by a fine.
And, in most parts of the world, the law requires a person who finds lost items, be they money or other object, to make a reasonable effort to locate the owner. In most of the cases, the property must be turned in to the police, who will keep it until the owner claims it. But there are states where, if the property goes unclaimed, that is, if the true owner doesn't turn up, it then (and only then) becomes the property of the finder.
So, surprisingly, despite all legal rules, there are certain circumstances in which a finder can legally become a keeper. For example, someone can hold the found item if it has been abandoned. That means that if a person throws something away on the street and someone else picks up the litter, that is not theft, and the finder obviously can keep that object.
In other words, “finders keepers” could be valid only if something has no owner anymore. But to become keeper, you first have to try to track down the rightful possessor.
In the case that I cited at the beginning of this article, the South Carolina teacher would have most likely gotten away with keeping the money, as no one noticed it disappeared and no one claimed it, but still, she chose to turn in the cash to the police. That is what I would call rectitude and honesty.
What do you think? If you find something, are you entitled to keep it?