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http://www.nature.com/news/italian-seism...NatureNews
Because science isn't perfect, we can't charge people for giving their best guess and failing.
Just look at weather forecasts!
http://www.nature.com/news/italian-seism...NatureNews
Quote:Italian seismologists cleared of manslaughter
Appeals court says six scientists did not cause deaths in 2009 L'Aquila earthquake and cuts sentence of a government official.
Six geologists accused of misleading the public about the risk of an earthquake in Italy were cleared of manslaughter on 10 November. An appeals court overturned their six-year prison sentences and reduced to two years the sentence for a government official who had been convicted with them.
The magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck the historic town of L’Aquila in the early hours of 6 April 2009, killing more than 300 people.
The judgement by the appeals court prompted many L'Aquila citizens who were waiting outside the courtroom to react with rage, shouting "shame" and saying that the Italian state had just acquitted itself, the Italian media reported. But it comes as a relief to earthquake scientists around the world who had been following the unprecedented proceedings with alarm.
“We don’t want to have to be worried about the possibility of being prosecuted if we give advice on earthquakes,” says seismologist Ian Main, from the University of Edinburgh, UK. “That would discourage giving honest opinion.”
Because science isn't perfect, we can't charge people for giving their best guess and failing.
Just look at weather forecasts!
