Cons of Good Samaritan Law and Its Solution

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Recommended: strengths and weaknesses of the bystander effect study

On March 13th, 1964, a woman named 'Kitty Genovese' was stabbed by a psychopathic stranger on the street near her home in New York City. While she was being murdered brutally for 35 minutes, 38 neighbors were witnessing the crime scene. In spite of her desperate cry for help, none of them had offered any help. Even after the criminal had left, only one neighbor called police, but by the time police had arrived, she had already gone dead. This incident is well-known as 'Genovese Syndrome', which refers to a social phenomenon where a person is less likely to offer help to another person who are in danger. It is also known as 'Bystander effect', and it is rising as a serious issue in a modern society where individualism is becoming widespread among people. Good Samaritan law is legislated in order to punish bystanders and to protect the members of society. In spite of its good purpose, bystanders should not be punished with this law as it invades principles that are stated in law, puts burden on the society, and is not a fundamental solution.
First of all, Good Samaritan law is an invasion of principles that are protected with law. It invades the Eighth Amendment of human rights. According to the constitution of United States, the Eighth Amendment is the protection against unusual punishment. Except Good Samaritan law, no such laws punish people who have not done anything to cause crime acts. Laws are there to punish those who have committed crimes, not witnesses. Since Good Samaritan law punishes these innocent witnesses, it would be an unusual punishment. In addition, it is an intrusion of the Fourteenth Amendment of privacy rights. As it is stated on the US constitution, the Fourteenth Amendment is the protection of “the righ...

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...r help to victims, sincerely being motivated by their own willingness. Therefore, through re-education, there would be lower recidivism rate and higher moralities than before, making society a more worthwhile place to live in.
Bystander effect is a serious problem in our society, and something must be done in order to solve it. There have been attempts to solve this issue, and one of them is Good Samaritan law. Although its purpose is to prevent bystander effect, bystanders should not be punished with law because it intrudes principles in constitution, it places burden on society, and it does not solve the problem fundamentally. Solution should be re-education instead, which would not only solve bystander effect but also raise the level of people’s moral standards. After all, it seems that re-education is the best solution that can replace Good Samaritan law.

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