When does lack of moral responsibility rise to the level of a crime? Bill provides answer
LANSING — A state lawmaker wants to answer the question: When does a person have a moral responsibility to help someone in need?
State Rep. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, said he thinks the answer may lie in incidents such as the hazing death of a fraternity pledge at Penn State University in February. After seeing video of the February incident in which an obviously intoxicated 19-year-old fell down a flight of stairs at the fraternity house and was left without any medical help for 12 hours, he felt he had to at least start a conversation in Michigan.
After being approached by a constituent whose son died in an accident in which he didn’t get any help from friends, Singh introduced a bill last week that would require people to provide assistance to someone in grave physical danger or risk being charged with a misdemeanor that carries a penalty of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.
“It may be difficult to find the right language, but there should be some level of duty for people to call in law enforcement if they see someone in distress,” he said. “There is a responsibility that if you see someone who needs attention and you decide to not do anything, and that person dies, shouldn’t there be a consequence to you?”
Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/14/moral-responsibility-crime-level/754825001/