2012-10-22, 11:52 PM
VerrKol Wrote:The difficulty with this idea is how is it possible to bring them to trial without undue bias? ANY criminal charges brought against the seismologists would go through a jury full of rather angry people who would perceive it as the responsibility of the scientists to prevent/protect against such things.
Realistically criminal charges are NOT the answer. As the article alludes, it will be very counterproductive and reward scientists who make no predictions or only the most dire predictions about possible future quakes. It would be much more productive to create legislation requiring better building codes to prevent earthquake damage.
A law to prevent politicians from lying their asses off to try and score political points could be handy too, but predicting future earthquakes sounds more likely
What jury? Do you even know why they were charged?