Crash

An air force jet has crashed, and four people died as a result -- incinerated in their home.

This hour, Dennis Prager has been discussing the issue, and raises the point that in his religious tradition, there is a penalty demanded even in the case of an inadvertent killing.

Deliberate murder is to be punished, of course. But killing an innocent person is so serious that it calls for punishment even if it's done inadvertently.

This strikes me as a case where two different ethical imperatives collide.

On one side, if someone causes a death entirely unintentionally, it seems unfair to punish him for what amounts to a roll of the dice.  In the case of the jet crash, the dice could have rolled slightly differently, and no one would have died.  The pilot (or the mechanic, or the inspector, or whoever is found to be at fault) would be off the hook.  Fairness seems to demand that this person not be punished for something so beyond his control.

On the other side, since killing a person is such a serious event, we require extra care to avoid it.  Our liability laws reflect this -- a person can be charged with negligent homicide if he fails to take reasonable care to avoid an accidental death.  It makes sense to punish an accidental homicide in that it sends a message to society about the seriousness of even an accidental death.  This measure of protection for society as a whole can make sense, even at the expense of some amount of fairness toward some individuals.