Here’s an interesting legal situation.

The Vice President of a record company that was backing the tour of some tweener pop star I’ve never heard of was arrested after he refused to send out a Twitter message asking the rioting attendees at a performance to disperse.

Police arrested a vice president from Bieber’s record label, Island Def Jam Records, saying he wasn’t cooperating with attempts to disperse the crowd.

James Roppo, 44, of Hoboken, N.J., was charged with a series of misdemeanors, including endangering the welfare of children and obstructing governmental administration.

“We asked for his help in getting the crowd to go away by sending out a Twitter message,” said Nassau County Police Det. Lt. Kevin Smith. “By not cooperating with us, we feel he put lives in danger and the public at risk.”

Is failure to act a crime?  Should it be a crime?

There are a lot of ways to look at this.  For instance, gun rights advocates (such as myself) are fond of linking to news stories where property owners are charged with crimes (or otherwise vilified by the media/police) for using a gun to protect their own property.  In that instance, they’re being punished for acting in their self defense.

On the other hand, it’s also a crime for people in certain professions (teachers, doctors, etc.) to fail to report some crimes like domestic violence or child abuse.  In that instance, people are being punished for failing to act.

The question is, what duty do we citizens have to protect one another?  If someone is drowning in the lake, and you are an expert swimmer, are you liable for their death if you don’t rescue them?  If you’re driving through a blizzard and don’t stop to pick up the hitchhiker with the thin jacket you see along the road are you liable if that hitchhiker ends up frozen to death in a snowbank?

Is an event organizer liable for injuries and damages if he doesn’t act to disperse a crowd?

Legally, how do we draw these lines?