Posted on 03/27/2010 3:12:45 PM PDT by Winged Hussar
Does the International Solidarity Movement's role in Rachel Corrie's training and supervision make it liable for her death?
We are not an attorney and cannot give legal advice, but laws against manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide are fairly straightforward. If A acts in a manner that a reasonable person would know to pose a danger to B (e.g. driving while drunk, playing "chicken" with a motor vehicle, celebratory gunfire or other reckless behavior with a firearm), and such action results in B's death, then A is guilty of manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. An employer who directs an employee to do something hazardous also can be charged with negligent homicide if a fatality results.
Less clear is a situation in which a group of people, especially without a clear authority figure, engages by consensus in reckless behavior that causes a fatality as the International Solidarity Movement did with Rachel Corrie. It is a matter of record, however, that the ISM trains its activists and also that the activists pay for the training. If somebody accepts payment to teach somebody how to do something, and teaches them to do something that puts that person's life at risk, a strong case could be made that the trainer is civilly or even criminally responsible for any resulting harm. In addition, the ISM's own account of the circumstances surrounding Rachel Corrie's death prove that it knew that the civil disobedience in which it was engaging could easily result in a fatality, i.e. the legal definition of recklessness.
(Excerpt) Read more at israpundit.com ...
I remember backin the early 1960s, some civil rights demonstrators laid down in front of a bulldozer at a construction site. The operator then backed up so as not to injure anyone. Unknown to him, some demonstrators had also laid down behind him and he ran over a preacher who had laid face down.
I don’t think any charges were filed. Wwonder what the last thoughts of the preacher wre as the treads hit him.
I remember seeing the photo in a magazine at the time.
No no no -- the set-up is, "I wonder what the last thing was that went through his mind?"
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