Editorials
Crafting bystander law is not going to be easy
TBO.com
Published: February 24, 2013
When something horrendous happens, it's human nature for people to grasp at anything to fix the problem — or at least respond in some way. It's especially true when unspeakable crimes occur. People want justice. Sometimes, though, what seems like common sense isn't so easy to put into law. Good examples of this are people who want it to be a criminal offense if someone witnesses a violent act and doesn't report it.Published: February 24, 2013
When Aaron Doty was beaten within an inch of his life, burned and killed, not one of the several people who witnessed it called the police or EMS.
In the case of Milo Rupert, an infant who died of malnutrition and insect bites in his crib, his mother and father have been charged but several other people who frequented their apartment never said a word. The conditions were despicable, and four small children lived in that hell hole, yet no one told authorities.
The push to have the Florida Legislature pass a law requiring anyone witnessing a crime such as the one committed against Doty to do something makes perfect sense. We believe the Milo Rupert case is the same in that regard. That said, trying to write such a law isn't easy.
Who determines when a crime reaches the level that anyone knowing about it should call it in? In a perfect world that wouldn't be an issue, but determining a threshold for doing so and actually holding someone responsible for it is much more difficult than some people think. Laws must be specific to pass the muster of judicial review. They must be fair, and determining when someone who didn't actually commit the crime is guilty of some kind of other crime must be a high legal bar.
We believe seeing a crime committed or children endangered and not doing anything is about the lowest thing a person can do. How anyone can live with their conscience is beyond our ability to understand. And there are laws concerning child abuse reporting.
That said, it won't be easy for legislators to get a new criminal law on the books. Such laws require great legal scrutiny, as they should. Charging someone with a crime is a big deal, and we must make sure the laws are constitutional, enforceable and fair.
These extreme cases demonstrate that people can witness horrific actions and stand idly by. We hope there is some kind of way to punish those who do it, but it won't be easy to craft such a law.