Good Samaritans and the Law
Regional differences and Good Samaritans
Vincent van Gogh (1890) The Good Samaritan
Good Samaritan laws were created in order to protect the rescuer or hero who selflessly comes to the rescue to aid another person who is in danger or in harm’s way. These laws create exceptions to a state’s tort law by creating criteria to address the situation where an injury has occurred in the course of the rescue, including the standard of negligence, the standard of care, the circumstances of the rescue and the position and training of the rescuer. While the laws are generally intended to protect against willful or wanton behavior, it can also include gross negligence, or just having a lack of the requisite training deemed necessary by that particular state legislature. Since tort law is a power of state government, each state, over the centuries has developed and shaped their own Good Samaritan laws, based upon the state legislatures’ interests and public policy goals as well as particular judicial opinions or incidents. This has led to a broad range of different criteria from one state to another, creating such a patchwork that without knowing a particular state’s Good Samaritan laws, a rescuer may easily fail to meet the criteria for indemnifying themselves from liability, quite unwittingly.
The Good Samaritan rule, from common law is explained in the RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS § 323:
One who undertakes gratuitously or for consideration to render services to another which he should recognize as necessary for the protection of the other's person or things, is subject to liability to the other for physical harm resulting from his failure to exercise reasonable care to perform his undertaking, if(a) his failure to exercise such care increases the risk of such harm, or(b) the harm is suffered because of the other's reliance upon the undertaking.
The term “Good Samaritan” is a parable that comes from the Bible, chapter of Luke:
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27 He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all our strength and with all your mind'[a]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'“
28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. "Look after him," he said, "and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have."
36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."1
People are generally good and want to respond to help others, even if it sometimes means risk to themselves. Biologically, since the theory of evolution was articulated in Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of the Species” in 1859, the instinct of survival of self and family in order to perpetuate one’s genes has explained humans’ selfish behaviors. Yet, why then, do some respond contrary to this instinct, threatening the continuation of one’s own genes? Instincts and biases that avoid death, from an evolutionary perspective, are logically genes that get passed on more frequently than instincts and behaviors that are self-sacrificing. In fact, true altruism is simply not sustainable, according to evolutionary theory, because of this.
According to one psychologist, one explanation is “arousal theory” where the presentation of a dangerous situation drives the rescuer to respond emotionally despite the danger to self. But there is a more plausible reason the researcher posits:
Another reason why people may act as good Samaritans in high-risk situations is that they place a high premium on their moral identity. People with deeply held moral values may feel a stronger sense of obligation to help others, especially when the consequences of not helping are severe. This can motivate people to disregard danger, even if they would not have done so in a low-risk situation.2
The Good Samaritan laws are intended to protect this altruism in America and even encourage acts of altruism by indemnifying or limiting the liability of those Good Samaritans. For our focus here, the Good Samaritan situations are limited to responding to emergency events when time is of the essence.
For example, a disabled man in a wheelchair found his wheel stuck in a train track with a train on the way. Two bystanders saw he was unable to move off the track with his wheelchair and ran to dislodge his wheel from the track, at risk to themselves from the oncoming train. Fortunately, they succeeded in pulling him out of danger.3
National attention was brought to bear on an incident considered callous and shocking to many around the country. The now famous case of the stabbing of Catherine Genovese in 1964 in Queens, NY, occurred while bystanders just looked the other way and continued on their way, no one stopping to help. All of this despite screams and stabbing that went on for half an hour.4
So there are regional differences in the U.S. in how we respond
We have seen multiple incidents on trains in New York City where people are being attacked, and a Good Samaritan goes to their defense at risk to themselves to save another. We have seen these Good Samaritan’s arrested for the level of force they used in the process of saving another, and they are measured under the “defense of others” criminal defense. 5The Good Samaritan law of limited civil immunity does not even become a part of what is framed as a criminal matter. Whereas; in a Texas sports bar, a heavily armed shooter entered and shot and killed the manager as they tried to calm him down. An armed patron of the sports bar, having dinner, used his gun to shoot him in the back and ended the gun attack. He was called a Good Samaritan and congratulated by police.6
A study conducted in 1994, the largest of its kind attempted to explain the differences between cities in the U.S. and the way they responded to people in need. The study found two cities at the lowest end of exhibiting Good Samaritan behaviors — Los Angeles and New York City. The study attributed the extremely high population density to cities having more than 1500 people per square mile, suggesting high population density was the driver for unhelpfulness.7
There are great differences in how people in different countries respond
In this same study the authors compared one city from each of a number of countries to see how helpfulness behavior compared around the world. The following chart shows how the researchers found that the wealthier the country the less helpful to others they are. (The U.S.A. does poorly in this study.)8
New issues with Good Samaritan acts
Good Samaritan behaviors hopefully continue while society’s responses and needs will continue to evolve.
Today, a frequent emergency situation that has become epidemic is the drug overdose emergency which will likely lead to death if help or assistance is not given to the overdosed person. In order to encourage people to help with medical attention for these cases, 40 states have enacted Good Samaritan laws offering some kind of immunity to those who render aid. 9
Where we are
The U.S. is one of the most giving countries in the world. In fact, in a recent “world giving” ranking in 2022, the United States, Kenya and Indonesia ranked in the top three countries for generosity.10 We had been consistently number one for several years and then in 2021 we fell to 19th in the world.
So while being altruistic may not make sense from a evolutionary biology perspective evolutionary psychology suggests it might actually be an important value in our survival after all. If so, then we should be sure that our laws are encouraging Good Samaritan actions rather than keeping citizens in fear of helping when they see someone else in immediate danger. The cities, too, have an obligation to keep their own citizens safe — after all that is the primary purpose of government. If government is failing to provide safety, it has failed.
As we go into the holiday season we can reflect on how giving and helping has always been part of tradition in America. Watching any version of “Scrooge” will remind you of how deeply embedded that tradition has become.
Enjoy the season of giving.
Luke 10:25-37 (New International Version)
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/machiavellians-gulling-the-rubes/202304/why-good-samaritans-are-prone-to-becoming-victims
https://www.weau.com/2022/09/20/they-saved-me-good-samaritans-rescue-man-whose-wheelchair-got-stuck-train-tracks/?fbclid=IwAR06TTJ9RFeb4GSqDgvmTLrx0lSRjvnMJf67Dn7tTcegNh94oEXmsuU3vGE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese
https://ny1.com/nyc/manhattan/news/2023/11/09/nypd--man-arrested-for-shooting-at-attempted-robber-in-midtown-subway-station (this is an example)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/good-samaritan-kills-active-shooter-texas-sports-bar-police-n755136
Robert Levine, “The Kindness of Strangers: People’s willingness to help someone during a chance encounter on a city street varies considerably around the world,” American Scientist (2003). at https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-kindness-of-strangers
https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-kindness-of-strangers
https://sites.duke.edu/policylab/files/2019/10/Mange-Good-Samaritan-Laws-Memo.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Giving_Index