Professors Arenella and Volokh Comment on "Bystander Effect" in USA Today Article

October 29, 2009 -- Professors Peter Arenella and Eugene Volokh commented on a California law that might make it impossible to prosecute witnesses to an assault who did nothing in a USA Today article.

Eugene Volokh, a University of California-Los Angeles law professor, said the reaction to crimes involving disinterested bystanders is a call for a law requiring witnesses to report crimes.

He said those kinds of laws only exist in a handful of states and for good reason. In the case of the California law, the crime carries a maximum six months in prison.

Volokh said making the failure to report a crime a crime itself can seriously undermine the intent of the law. Many times people don't report a crime until some time has passed — maybe their guilt convinces them to call police, maybe they don't think a crime is occurring but later see a call from police for information. Those people may not come forward if doing so would be admitting to a crime.

"This makes it much less likely that they will testify later or that they'll talk to police later," Volokh found.

Peter Arenella, a UCLA law professor who studies the moral psychology of juveniles, believes the bystander effect should not even apply to the Richmond gang rape.

"In this context, when you're talking about a crime this horrific, and you're talking about a group of adolescents watching, there's much more serious pathology going on that can't be explained by, 'Someone else is going to call for help,' " Arenella said.

To read the entire article, click here.

Professor Volokh also discussed the topic on NPR's "Talk of the Nation." To listen to the interview, please click here.