In the criminal law, criminal negligence is one of the three general classes of mens rea (Latin for "guilty mind") element required to constitute a conventional as opposed to strict liability offense. It is defined as an act that is:

careless, inattentive, neglectful, willfully blind, or in the case of gross negligence what would have been reckless in any other defendant.


should we be criminalizing 'negligence'? is that the same as criminalizing stupid?

I just heard Dr Phil mention on his show the doctor going to jail who was responsible for MJs death. His view was the doctor should loose his license but that medicine should not be criminalized by imprisoning doctors who make stupid mistakes.


Do you think 'criminal negligence' is a just or reasonable charge for people to be in jail over?

There are competency clauses to protect the impaired from wrongful prosecution.

A Dr has a charge/oath to protect and perserve life. There are malpractice suits when they are incompetent in that duty and some recourse for criminal charges.

A Dr over medicating a patient, even at the patients request, is criminal.They know the consequences and harms of drugs, take and are given a responsibility to perscribe, the common person does not have (at present)....they are liable in the case of loss of life due to overdose of a patient in their care.

jmo

thank you, I have no strong opinion on this

I Wasnt hurt when the doctor was sentenced

yet I also feel a certain amount of risk is involved anytime we are in medical care ,,,,,and not sure how criminal those types of situations should be considered,,,

I never thought he meant to harm MJ
I believe he got greedy and selfish...careless.
I see a man who has lost his livelihood,
dignity, integrity and peace of mind.
He's a broken man.
He is paying a hefty price for his stupidity.
We NEED to SEE him in jail..to SEE him suffer
because we lack to empathy to know he already is.

...and I'm a HUGE MJ fan.

So, no.
I look for the intent.
If everyone went to jail
for a REALLY big mistake...
the prisons would be over crowded (er).

good point, I think maybe its another symptom of an over litigious 'make them pay' mentality....?

This guy was paid VERY well, was in a position most could only imagine, and violated his hypocratic oath causing a death...

A police officer receives a review whenever he discharges his weapon in the line of duty (and many questions are often asked on the judgements handed down). A Dr is no different because he swears an oath as well to the public.

MJ was a star, and that causes more exposure (sad but true) than any common case, so Murray should have been that much more cautious....he wasn't!

People entrusted with the health and safety of others should be held accountable when they fail their duty. While I agree the mentality of a quick buck has poluted the system, they need to be held accoutable.

accountability = jail?

Negligence covers many aspects of responsibility.

If an airline mechanic notices a section of vertical stabilizer missing and doesn't fix it because he is on break and the plane crashes, that type of negligence should go unpunished?

Over litigious and the eye for an eye...
our society has a need to punish and see others suffer.

We have very little concern for our fellow humans when we think
they deserve to be punished. Our jail/prison system is just another business..profits off human suffering.
We seem to be alright with that as long as we feel said person..deserves to be there.

you bet people should be punnished for criminal negligence and if you want, just call it criminal stupid. pilots, for example, are punnished often for "neglecting" to follow regulations and for good reason. federal aviation regulations are there to protect people from unnecessary danger. those regulations serve no purpose if they are to be neglected. i have a friend who spent a year in jail and will never be out of debt because he was negligent/stupid. the county had declared the area an extreme fire danger and he decided that because he wanted to spruce up the place for a bbq the next day to mow his field. the exhaust on his riding lawn mower ignited the foot high dry grass and people lost homes in the wildfire that resulted. he now owes the state, county, city and several residents millions in damages. i don't know how we can deter negligence that affects many without punnishment.