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What's the law's stance on the trolley problem? (self.asklemmy)

submitted 1 year ago by TheBananaKing to c/[email protected]

42 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Would pulling the switch be a felony? Would not pulling the switch be one? Would a preservation-of-life defense hold any water?

Are there any notable cases about this?

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (8 children)

IANAL, and it depends on the countries law. My understanding is in the US 99.999% of the time, as a passerby, you cannot have liability for inaction. Remember the last episode of Seinfeld and the lawyer saying you don't have to help anybody.

However actions you take are always potentially legally liable. And taking an action to cause someone to die always puts you on the hook potentially for manslaughter. Defense of others might be a mitigation, but that is usually like shooting an active shooter. In this case I think that's not what's happening.

Sadly, I think the safe thing for you to do legally is to keep walking and forget you ever saw the lever.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Shit, in the US the police aren’t even required to intervene.

[–] Fosheze 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's actually kind of funny you mention that. Police dont have a duty to act but medical professionals do so my state just started requiring all police to have an EMR (aka first responder training). That means that they're now "medical professionals" and have a legal duty to render aid whenever they are dispatched to a scene. I'm not sure how duty to act overlaps with qualified immunity but now there is at the very least a case to be made whenever they fail to render aid.

There were a lot of really salty cops in my last EMR class so I got to hear all about it.

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