She saw him coming towards her, whistling and humming. He stopped in front of her to ask politely if she knew the way to Poppy Street. (…)
Source: El-Charni, Rachida “The Way to Poppy Street.” Translated from the Arabic by Piers Amodia. In: Banipal 39 — Modern Tunisian Literature (Winter 2010).
Available at [🔗].
Current Affairs
Should there be “Bad Samaritan” Laws, that is, should there be legislation requiring people to provide assistance to people in need or in grave danger?
links
Jay Sterling Silver “Can the law make us be decent?” New York Times, 6 November 2012. [🔗]
Questions
Did the protagonist in the story have a reasonable expectation that onlookers would assist her in retrieving the stolen necklace?
Should there be “Bad Samaritan” laws? Why do you think that Common Law offers very little in the way of “Bad Samaritan” laws? Do you think that Jay Sterling Silver offers a reasonable statute in the next to last paragraph of “Can the Law Make Us Be Decent?“
What level of risk should people be obliged to incur in order to assist others in need?
Would Jay Sterling Silver’s proposed statute cover the protagonist in the story?
Would Bad Samaritan laws affect people’s sense of moral obligations?