Italian Scientists Found Guilty of Manslaughter
Italian Scientists Found Guilty of Manslaughter
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012 ... ml?cmp=rss
Italian scientists found guilty of manslaughter after failing to predict an earthquake.
Really? This seems so wrong to me.
Italian scientists found guilty of manslaughter after failing to predict an earthquake.
Really? This seems so wrong to me.
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Well, here's the story on the NY Times, which is hardly a sensationalist paper.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/world ... .html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/world ... .html?_r=0
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Thanks for the additional link, Jewel.
It just gets worse. According to that article, the prosecutors cited a U.S. case in which the Army Corp of Engineers was held responsible for the death and damage of Katrina. That is wrong and downright irresponsible on at least two different counts. First and foremost, that was not a criminal case in which individuals were sent to jail, it was civil case in which the government was held liable for monetary damages. And secondly, it was not a case of scientists failing to properly predict a risk, it was a case of knowing full well that there was a major risk and failing to take adequate measures to defend against the risk.
It just gets worse. According to that article, the prosecutors cited a U.S. case in which the Army Corp of Engineers was held responsible for the death and damage of Katrina. That is wrong and downright irresponsible on at least two different counts. First and foremost, that was not a criminal case in which individuals were sent to jail, it was civil case in which the government was held liable for monetary damages. And secondly, it was not a case of scientists failing to properly predict a risk, it was a case of knowing full well that there was a major risk and failing to take adequate measures to defend against the risk.
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Is it possible to use a legal precedent from another country? Aside from the whole issue of it not really being a precedent. . . .
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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They were not really using it as "precedent" in the sense that we think of using a previous case defining what the law is. They were more using it as an example of what they considered a comparable example. Even though, it isn't.
On a more general level, nel would be more qualified to speak, but courts do sometimes cite cases from other jurisdictions as "persuasive precedent" as opposed to "binding precedent".
On a more general level, nel would be more qualified to speak, but courts do sometimes cite cases from other jurisdictions as "persuasive precedent" as opposed to "binding precedent".
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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I feel better. Thanks.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
If someone were deliberately putting forth misleading information, or withholding pertinent information to the detriment of the public at large, then I could see where the Italian justice system were coming from.
I just don't see how such a guess-work like endeavor as plate tectonics, could fit into that category.
While I think that Captain Schettino's actions and inaction (aboard the Costa Concordia last January) were reprehensible and bespoke of someone who was in a panic and not fit to captain a navy vessel, I hardly think that the two issues are commensurate, and would find this issue even more disturbing if punishments were ended up near equal terms.
That isn't to say I think that Captain Schettino should receive the death penalty, but if you take the two on Italian justice face value, that is what you would get.
I just don't see how such a guess-work like endeavor as plate tectonics, could fit into that category.
While I think that Captain Schettino's actions and inaction (aboard the Costa Concordia last January) were reprehensible and bespoke of someone who was in a panic and not fit to captain a navy vessel, I hardly think that the two issues are commensurate, and would find this issue even more disturbing if punishments were ended up near equal terms.
That isn't to say I think that Captain Schettino should receive the death penalty, but if you take the two on Italian justice face value, that is what you would get.