Two legal persons, one body

While at dinner in Minneapolis, my parents and I sat next to conjoined twins. When I did a quick search for the question I had (which head controls which limbs), it turned out the articles were actually about the specific pair sitting next to us. Besides the usual thought — “their predicament makes most people’s problems seem less significant” — I also wonder how the law handles the issue of two legal persons occupying the same indivisible body. The right hand literally doesn’t know what the left one does. They would also make a great case study for “nurture vs. nature” theories, since nurture would be very nearly identical.

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6 Responses to Two legal persons, one body

  1. Jim Sloey says:

    So interesting. Would they both need a CCW and drivers license? If one committed a crime do they both go to jail?

  2. Manuel says:

    Or imagine if one commits a crime and is sentenced to jail, or becomes a felon and can’t possess a gun. Now what happens to the other?

  3. tallpine says:

    I hope one didn’t vote for Hillary and the other for Trump! Ha!

  4. Leatherwing says:

    It would be very important to know which hand was holding the gun, since each arm is independently controlled. I hope they never face any issues around it.

    The photo of them hugging each other at the swimming pool is very sweet.

  5. Bart says:

    Nature vs. Nurture

    Nature is the same, since the two are “identical” twins, formed from one zygote. Genetically identical.

    Nurture is almost identical, since almost everything one experienced was also experienced by the other.

    Now, if they were to get married, it would be an interesting situation. From a practical standpoint, I think it would only work for them to marry one man. That one man would have to love both of them, and both of them would have to love him. Technically, this would make the man a bigamist, but there is nothing wrong with that anyway (from a Biblical/Christian perspective).

    They apparently share one reproductive system (as well as one “genetic identity”, and would thus both be the mothers of any resulting children.

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