If you see someone about to be struck by a car or otherwise step into harms way but choose not to call out a warning or act in some way to prevent disaster, are you responsible for any harm caused?
What defence, if any, can be offered for choosing inaction?
factors leading up to cause that result
but are we capable of making it less harsh? therein lies the rub?its a harsh world
excellent questionless harsh? therein lies the rub?
but are we capable
excellent question
less harsh for us to look at or less harsh for others to exist in, live, grow, thrive etc etc...
there are soo many potential sides to the core of that idea.
the finer side of the more civil state is as much an art as a science
where as the less civil side is about preventing terror & treachery(collapsing governments & entire civil society's etc)
an example
i saw a drunk person walking along the side of the road(there is no footpath for them to use and only occasional dim street lights) at night.
should i stop and offer them a lift its starting to rain and they risk getting hit by a drunk/careless driver ?
it is such a small act for me to simply pull over and give them a lift. it costs me nothing and takes almost no effort
but, he could be a psychopathic ax murderer. maybe that line of thinking keeps me from saving the world. :/
drunk or not drunk if they make a grab for the wheel while your passing another vehicle at a combined speed of around 100 miles per hour.could be a psychopathic ax murderer.
at what point does our own personal safety come before helping another? do we risk helping another, at the risk of our own peril?
It becomes a matter of one's own conscience, and would be hard to prove in a court of law. Only the individual who didn't act to prevent harm to a fellow human, would know with complete certainty, what motivated such inaction. For example, refusal to help, and simply not knowing how to help, are two different motivators. Same end result, but the motivating factors leading up to cause that result, would be different.
Why then, if someone were to tell you that he/she murdered someone, and you chose to not go to the police with that info, would that be considered a crime? I'm not disagreeing with your premise, but there seems to be some legal contradictions out there.It generally wouldn't be needed in a court of law. You generally speaking aren't going to be in a court of law over something like the scenario in the OP. There is generally no legal obligation for you to help someone else as long as you were causing the dangerous situation in the first place.
Morally is completely different.
In certain narrow cases, yes. If your child is in harm's way and you do not assist you can be prosecuted for child neglect. Minnesota and Vermont have duty-to-assist laws that say that if you see someone in peril (i.e. a victim of a car crash) you have a duty to provide reasonable assistance. That could include extricating them from the wreck and doing CPR, but it could also be as simple as calling 911. There are efforts to pass those laws in other states.If you see someone about to be struck by a car or otherwise step into harms way but choose not to call out a warning or act in some way to prevent disaster, are you responsible for any harm caused?
In most places you don't need a defense because you have no duty to assist. But the usual defenses are "I didn't know what to do" or "I was scared." The defense "I was afraid I would get sued" is now largely void due to Good Samaritan laws in most states.What defence, if any, can be offered for choosing inaction?
In most cases you aren't under any legal obligations to report a crime. Their may be some exceptions (depending on the local laws). If you are a medical worker and you see evidence of child abuse as you are examining a child there may be a law that requires reporting that.Why then, if someone were to tell you that he/she murdered someone, and you chose to not go to the police with that info, would that be considered a crime? I'm not disagreeing with your premise, but there seems to be some legal contradictions out there.
it is such a small act for me to simply pull over and give them a lift. it costs me nothing and takes almost no effort
Whenever I have stepped in to help someone avoid harm, no conscious decision making/choosing was involved---it was just action/reaction.