Should Scientists Be Held Legally Responsible for Their Results?
Uncertainty Principles Jonathan Carlson On March 31, 2009, a panel of scientists and civil servants met to assess the risk presented by a recent series of tremors in the Abruzzo region of Italy. They concluded that a major seismic event was unlikely. Soon thereafter, Bernardo De Bernardinis, the vice-director of Italy's Department of Civil Protection, the organization that put together the panel, told reporters that citizens should not worry, and even agreed with a journalist who suggested that people should relax with a glass of wine. Six days later, a major earthquake struck L'Aquila, a city in Abruzzo, killing more than 300 people. Soon after, citizens requested an investigation into the panelists' findings, and the public prosecutor obliged. De Bernardinis and the panelists were charged with manslaughter and now face up to 15 years in prison. The L'Aquila judge who determined that the case could go to court said the defendants...