It is a clear summer night and you are out with your friends at a park enjoying the cool evening breeze. Everyone is having a good time when all of a sudden you hear screaming coming out from the woods. When you go to investigate what the screaming is all about, you witness a woman being held down on the ground by two guys while a third guy is sexually assaulting her. Never witnessing such an atrocious event in your life, you all panic and run away. A week later you come to find out that this woman was not only raped, but murdered as well. Do you think that in your mind and in retrospect, this lady's life could have been saved if possibly you would have done something? To assist or not to assist, that is the question! We have all come in touch with these scenarios through either the media or simply through first hand experience. Assisting victims in peril can be, to most human beings, a tough decision to carry out. The thought of our own safety can triumph over the thought of making that gallant move to render assistance. Assume that the New Jersey legislature is considering on passing a bill that will make it illegal to ignore those in peril. As long as you are not posing any danger towards yourself or others, you are therefore obligated to render assistance. If you choose to ignore the situation then you will be liable and shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 5 to 10 years. II.HistoryIn America, our duty to assist those in peril is not an obligation though there have been cases that have stirred up the public, because of our failure to render assistance. In the mid-sixties, outside of her apartment in Queens, New York, Catherine "Kitty" Genovese was stabbed to death. The worst part was that thirty-eight of her neighbors witnessed the attack and did nothing about it except for one. Although this person called the police, it took him time and one friend to convince him to call. In 1983, in a tavern in New...
