Italian Scientists Condemmed Manslaughter for Earthquake Forecast...

• Mentosftw wrote on 2012-10-23 09:31

  L'AQUILA, Italy - Six scientists and a government official were sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter by an Italian court on Monday for failing to give adequate warning of an earthquake that killed more than 300 people in L'Aquila in 2009.
  
  The seven, all members of a body called the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks, were accused of negligence and malpractice in evaluating the danger and keeping the central city informed of the risks.
  
  The case has drawn condemnation from international bodies including the American Geophysical Union, which said the risk of litigation may deter scientists from advising governments or even working in seismology and seismic risk assessments.
  
  "The issue here is about miscommunication of science, and we should not be putting responsible scientists who gave measured, scientifically accurate information in prison," Richard Walters of Oxford University's Department of Earth Sciences said.
  
  "This sets a very dangerous precedent and I fear it will discourage other scientists from offering their advice on natural hazards and trying to help society in this way."
  
  The scientists, Franco Barberi, Enzo Boschi, Giulio Selvaggi, Gian Michele Calvi, Claudio Eva and Mauro Dolce as well as Bernardo De Bernardis - a senior official in the Civil Protection Authority - were convicted of criminal manslaughter and causing criminal injury.
  
  The 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck L'Aquila, in the Abruzzo region, at 3:32 a.m. on April 6, wrecking tens of thousands of buildings, injuring more than 1,000 people and killing 308.
  
  At the heart of the case was the question of whether the government-appointed experts gave an overly reassuring picture of the risk facing the town, which contained many ancient and fragile buildings and which had already been partially destroyed three times by earthquakes over the centuries.
  
  The case focused in particular on a series of low-level tremors that hit the region in the months preceding the earthquake and which prosecutors said should have warned experts not to underestimate the risk of a major shock.
  
  Eva's lawyer Alfredo Biondi said the decision was "wrong in both fact and law" but the verdict, delivered in a tiny improvised court room in an industrial zone outside the still-wrecked city center, was welcomed by relatives of the victims.
  
  "This is not thirst for revenge, it is just that our sister is not coming back," said Claudia Carosi.
  
  More than three years later, much of the once-beautiful medieval city is still in ruins and thousands of people have been unable to return to their homes.
  
  Defense lawyers said earthquakes could not be predicted and even if they could, nothing could be done to prevent them.
  
  "If an event cannot be foreseen and, more to the point, cannot be avoided, it is hard to understand how there can be any suggestion of a failure to predict the risk," defense lawyer Franco Coppi said before the verdict was delivered.
  
  "INCOMPLETE, IMPRECISE"
  
  Prosecutors, who had only sought a four-year sentence, said they did not expect scientists to provide a precise forecast.
  
  But they argued the Commission had given "incomplete, imprecise and contradictory" information on the danger after a meeting on March 31, 2009, a few days before the earthquake.
  
  The case is part of a wider controversy over the disaster in L'Aquila, which has been at the center of a series of bitter rows over Italy's disaster preparedness.
  
  Central Italy is continuously shaken by low level tremors, very few of which precede bigger earthquakes and they are generally marked by no more than a brief statement from civil protection authorities.
  
  Key to the dispute is the kind of cautious language, hedged by caveats and reserves which scientists typically use in predicting highly uncertain events, but which can be of limited use as a guideline for the general public.
  
  According to scientific opinion cited by prosecutors, the dozens of lower level tremors seen before the quake were typical of the kind of preliminary seismic activity seen before major earthquakes such as the one that struck on April 6.
  
  Instead of highlighting the danger, they said the experts had made statements playing down the threat of a repeat of the earthquakes which wrecked the town in 1349, 1461 and 1703, saying the smaller shocks were a "normal geological phenomenon".
  
  Italy is among the most earthquake-prone countries in Europe and has been struck repeatedly by lethal shocks, most recently in May 2012, when 16 people were killed and hundreds injured by a 5.8 tremor in the Emilia Romagna region.

  
  
  Source
  http://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/22/italian-scientists-convicted-over-earthquake-warning
  
  Okay what.
• Altava wrote on 2012-10-23 13:32
  The Italian justice system is really jacked up, seriously. The fact that they improvised a courtroom in the middle of L'Aquila kinda shows that...these guys ain't gonna be getting out of jail anytime soon either. God help them.
• Cynic wrote on 2012-10-23 14:12
  May as well try and toss the earthquake into jail while you're at it.
• Chiyuri wrote on 2012-10-23 14:18
  The Earth is guilty of uncounteble amount of manslaughter.
  For such an horrible being, the human force will sentence the Earth to death.
  
  <.<
  >.>
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2012-10-23 14:29
  This is what happens when you let the emotions of humans get in the way of science. Emotional humans make terrible decisions like putting your anger at losing loved ones over the good of all people. I stopped reading once I got to that victim's response. Despicable.
• Osayidan wrote on 2012-10-23 14:40
  Do they still burn witches too? Bunch of backward fucktards.
• EndlessDreams wrote on 2012-10-23 15:50
  I see that they are quick to put scientists on trial, but when the Roman Catholic Church does its crimes, it is pretty slow.
  
  Maybe, they should put their own Roman Catholic Church for manslaughter as well for not enough prayers to prevent earthquake!
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-10-23 16:33
  Italy is pretty corrupt and the Italian justice system is not exempt. It works in such a way that, when in doubt, the prosecution wins the case. They then have to go through an appeal before it becomes "official," which is usually handled in a more sensible manner. It's a huge waste of time and a nerve-wrecking experience for those involved, since you still go to jail before your appeal is heard.. and this can sometimes take a long time. One recent high-profile case that comes to mind is the Amanda Knox murder trial.
• Osayidan wrote on 2012-10-23 16:51

  Quote from Yoorah;967825:

  Italy is pretty corrupt and the Italian justice system is not exempt. It works in such a way that, when in doubt, the prosecution wins the case. They then have to go through an appeal before it becomes "official," which is usually handled in a more sensible manner. It's a huge waste of time and a nerve-wrecking experience for those involved, since you still go to jail before your appeal is heard.. and this can sometimes take a long time. One recent high-profile case that comes to mind is the Amanda Knox murder trial.

  
  
  I remember that trial. It's what made me decide I'd never visit italy.
• paladin wrote on 2012-10-24 00:46
  What illogical sentencing is this?
  And I thought the US justice system could be screwed up
• Froglord wrote on 2012-10-24 02:07
  If you think that's bad, some black guy in the U.S. tried to "sue" god for killing those who live in poverty through starvation.
  
  Yes...
  
  Let's all sue imaginary creatures like the toothfairy for not giving out money without a permit. Hell, let's sue santa claus for breaking entry while were at it.
• RealityBreak wrote on 2012-10-24 08:54
  Lol. Since everyone's giving examples of what the Italian government should do, I'll throw one out there. Grocery stores should be sued for having sold alcohol to those who get into alcohol related car accidents.
  
  

  Quote from Chiyuri;967785:

  The Earth is guilty of uncounteble amount of manslaughter.
  For such an horrible being, the human force will sentence the Earth to death.
  
  <.<
  >.>

  
  
  For me, it is difficult to rightly replicaite your monster grammar and word misemployment, however, I am attempt to accomodate it.
• Chiyuri wrote on 2012-10-24 14:15

  Quote from RealityBreak;968258:

  
  For me, it is difficult to rightly replicaite your monster grammar and word misemployment, however, I am attempt to accomodate it.

  
  
  Don't worry, we all have problems. I am also unable to understand why you are having so much trouble looking at such little details and staying silent about it. It's not like you can't understand what I wrote. The quality of writing doesn't define the value behind what is been said.
  
  Anyway, my faults in writing varies. often I type too fast and make typing mistakes, sometimes the speed of my hands goes faster than the sentence I am thinking so I end up losing sense and repeating words or even replace a word with another which sound similar to the ear. Sometimes I am unsure of how to write a word and just go with the sound, I write it like how it sound. As for the overall structure. Can't really say much on it, I've been said to talk in odd ways, careless of which language I use.
• RealityBreak wrote on 2012-10-24 14:28

  Quote from Chiyuri;968321:

  Don't worry, we all have problems. I am also unable to understand why you are having so much trouble looking at such little details and staying silent about it. It's not like you can't understand what I wrote. The quality of writing doesn't define the value behind what is been said.
  
  Anyway, my faults in writing varies. often I type too fast and make typing mistakes, sometimes the speed of my hands goes faster than the sentence I am thinking so I end up losing sense and repeating words or even replace a word with another which sound similar to the ear. Sometimes I am unsure of how to write a word and just go with the sound, I write it like how it sound. As for the overall structure. Can't really say much on it, I've been said to talk in odd ways, careless of which language I use.

  
  
  Well, there are a lot of things "wrong" in my mind, I'm sure. I just have to poke at incorrect spelling/grammar; it's become some sort of weird modern instinct.
• ValkyrieHamster wrote on 2012-10-24 18:02
  I wouldn't put it past the Italians to attempt to put the Earth on trial...