Scientists Guilty of Manslaughter

[Dafunkdoc_Unlimited]

Six Italian scientists and an ex-government official have been sentenced to six years in prison over the 2009 deadly earthquake in L'Aquila.

A regional court found them guilty of multiple manslaughter.

Prosecutors said the defendants gave a falsely reassuring statement before the quake, while the defence maintained there was no way to predict major quakes.

The 6.3 magnitude quake devastated the city and killed 309 people.

Many smaller tremors had rattled the area in the months before the quake that destroyed much of the historic centre.

It took Judge Marco Billi slightly more than four hours to reach the verdict in the trial, which had begun in September 2011.

Lawyers have said that they will appeal against the sentence. As convictions are not definitive until after at least one level of appeal in Italy, it is unlikely any of the defendants will immediately face prison.

Full story here: BBC News - L'Aquila quake: Italy scientists guilty of manslaughter​

 

[Type Username Here]

Some scientists have warned that the case might set a damaging precedent, deterring experts from sharing their knowledge with the public for fear of being targeted in lawsuits, the BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome reports.

Among those convicted were some of Italy's most prominent and internationally respected seismologists and geological experts.

Earlier, more than 5,000 scientists signed an open letter to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in support of the group in the dock.

After the verdict was announced, David Rothery, of the UK's Open University, said earthquakes were "inherently unpredictable".

"The best estimate at the time was that the low-level seismicity was not likely to herald a bigger quake, but there are no certainties in this game," he said.

Malcolm Sperrin, director of medical physics at the UK's Royal Berkshire Hospital said that the sentence was surprising and could set a worrying precedent.

"If the scientific community is to be penalised for making predictions that turn out to be incorrect, or for not accurately predicting an event that subsequently occurs, then scientific endeavour will be restricted to certainties only and the benefits that are associated with findings from medicine to physics will be stalled."

 

[Type Username Here]

Great thread Doc. Will open a lively discussion for sure.

 

[MBwithadream]

Oh you didn't know?

 

[zerozero]

bad decision. Sad and I know they want to blame someone but I'm always wary of negligence type charges going too far. Also emergency response shouldn't be based straight on scientist calculations there has to be some responsibility taken by the civic and political leadership. Nobody can predict the future the contingency response has to be based on more than formulas.

I wouldn't be against a smaller penalty, removing people from government jobs etc but six years in prison is way over the top

 

[The Real]

Terrible idea. This will also only make it harder to find scientists willing to do public work in the future.

 

[Mr. Somebody]

Scientists should stay out of the business of predicting earthquakes until they have this science mastered. Being a false prophet has consequences apparently.

 

[Julius Skrrvin]

And here I thought Europeans were progressive when it came to science

 

[zerozero]

Scientists should stay out of the business of predicting earthquakes until they have this science mastered. Being a false prophet has consequences apparently.

what should they say then, when people ask what the chances are? "I dunno"? You have to guess what the earthquake or volcano or hurricane or flood etc. is going to be like or you'll be evacuating most of the world's cities dozens of times an year

 

[Type Username Here]

And here I thought Europeans were progressive when it came to science

You're talking about Italy breh. Italy is the Arkansas of Europe. My blood line is from there, but after the Renaissance those fukkers started falling off like a motherfukker.

 

[Hawaiian Punch]

Scientists should stay out of the business of predicting earthquakes until they have this science mastered. Being a false prophet has consequences apparently.

Using that logic we should abandon science altogether. Science is probabilistic in nature man. Everything from weather to quantum physics is based on probability. The beauty of science is with trial and error we reduce the probability of getting the wrong answer. You gotta break a few eggs before you get an omlete man. In this case we broke 309 eggs

 

[zerozero]

Using that logic we should abandon science altogether. Science is probabilistic in nature man. Everything from weather to quantum physics is based on probability. The beauty of science is with trial and error we reduce the probability of getting the wrong answer. You gotta break a few eggs before you get an omlete man. In this case we broke 309 eggs

well let's be clear it's not just about science in this situation. The question here is about the future, predictions of any sort have uncertainty attached to them

 

[Mr. Somebody]

Using that logic we should abandon science altogether. Science is probabilistic in nature man. Everything from weather to quantum physics is based on probability. The beauty of science is with trial and error we reduce the probability of getting the wrong answer. You gotta break a few eggs before you get an omlete man. In this case we broke 309 eggs

Well they should use science to understand that when they practice soothsaying they put themselves at the mercy of kings. Instead they should stay in the laboratory and come up with more advanced techniques to avoid being put on the chopping block so kings can maintain favor with their courts.

Its so demonic, friend.

 

[Serious]

 

[Hawaiian Punch]

well let's be clear it's not just about science in this situation. The question here is about the future, predictions of any sort have uncertainty attached to them

When you put it like that it makes the Italian court look like something out of the dark ages. Using their logic you could take a mechanic on trial for not predicting the exact moment your brakes failed, or jail a weatherman for not getting the weather right. This judgement is beyond ridiculous