Spin - Off: Good Samaritan Law

It seems to depend what state you are in and the circumstances.

I think the person that would not help the mom with the 2 boys that ended up drowning.. Should be harshly spoken to and informed the results of their denial of help.

That poor mom. Those babies got swept away and there was nothing she could do.

i think it takes a special person that is willing to put themselves in danger to save others. I hope I will always be willing to help in any way possible, because I would want others to help my loved ones.

Cheryl, I think Amy is talking about the mom whose sons were swept away in the flooding from Hurricane Sandy. She asked a man to let them inside his house, and he refused. Amy is saying that this man should be held liable for the boys' death.

Good Samaritan laws only protect people who are trying to be a good samaritan, but do cause further harm. Law enforcement officials, trained emergency personnel, and fire fighters (even when not on duty) may be held to a higher standard and could be held liable if they do not help.

In the case of the NY man, I saw him interviewed, and he didn't seem to know what the situation was. He said that he thought it was a man, not a woman, who was asking to come inside. When he refused, this person threw something at his window trying to break in. This person never mentioned having kids in jeopardy. I can see how he could have been confused and thought this was just someone trying to loot his house in the wake of tragedy. I don't think he should be held liable for their deaths any more than the mom should be for driving her kids into flooded streets in the middle of a hurricane.

I just feel so sad for those boys.

Good Samaritan laws protect the person who helps from lawsuits. For example, if someone tried to save your life and gave you CPR to do it, inadvertently breaking a couple of ribs, you cannot sue them for breaking your ribs. That's obviously an oversimplified example, but it's the basic gist.

ETA: According to wikipedia, "Good Samaritan statutes in the states of Minnesota and Vermont do require a person at the scene of an emergency to provide reasonable assistance to a person in need.[8] This assistance may be to call 9-1-1." This is in addition to the protection of the person helping. So while all Good Samaritan laws protect the person helping, a few also require that help to be given in some way. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law

Also, since I don't wholly trust wikipedia, here is what is more likely a trustworthy site. http://definitions.uslegal.com/g/good-samaritans/

The Good Samaritan Law doesn't apply here.

I'm a medic. The Good Samaritan Law protects me from being sued for helping someone, as long as I do so, 1) Within my scope of practice, and 2) Am not negligent in my duties.

There are some interventions that can cause other injuries or pain, like CPR or placing a tourniquet. The patient cannot sue me for cracked ribs or bruising/pain at the tournequet site, because those injuries are potential risks I must take to save her life.

Hope that clarifies things.

LoveTeachingMath has this right.
You cannot be sued if you crack the ribs of a stranger on a sidewalk that needs CPR.
The situation in Pittsburgh has nothing to do with the Good Samaritan Law.
Unless a bystander had injured someone trying to leap to the child's aid.

The Good Samaritan Law is for one to give ASSISTANCE to THOSE IN PERIL or in need of assistance.

The mother from Pittsburgh was beyond help. Sorry. But to dangle your child over a 14' drop is pure stupidity. Plain and simple. There was no help for that mother.

the mother INTENTIONALLY HELD HER SON OVER THE RAILING/FENCE!!! She was NOT asking for help until she dropped him. She FAILED to see the peril she was putting her son in - netting there or not.

Hi Amy just wanted to jump in as i see you are referring to the NYC mom and not the pitts mom.

I havne't seen the NY story so i don't know the details if they would have been endangering themselves by opening the door, or if they even heard her asking to come in.- Perhaps this was an elderly person that was very scared themselves and unsure of what they would be getting into by opening the door.

I dont know the legal ness of your questions, It's hard to know what one would do in a panic situation, I'm sure we would all like to think we would open our doors but who knows what other circumstances come to play.

There is no such thing as a "good samaritan law" as you are phrasing it. The other posters have already explaine how it actually works, but the reason we don't have one that requires help is that is a moral issue, and should not be determined by the government.

Also, where do you draw the line? Under your question "required to help someone if/when you can" - does that mean the gov't can require you to donate clothes, money or time to the clean up? Who gets to decide how much your required to donate or help?

There is a defense to the criminal charges called necessity. Ifshe had broken in a window of another home to hole up during the storm, she could claim as a defense the necessity of the storm made her break the law, so she isn't criminally liable.

Which kind of begs the question - why didn't she go to another house? If she was willing to break into one...why didn't she break into another?