Good Samaritan Law

A law which requires people witnessing a crime to, either take reasonable steps to prevent it, or depending on the law, at least to report it.

Such laws have been passed in some communities, and one was integral to the plot of the final episode of Seinfeld.

The name comes from the Biblical Parable of the Good Samaritan

There are also Good Samaritan Laws the protect a person who attempts to help someone from a law suit. This would cover something like a person who stops to help an accident victim from being sued by the person he helped.

To clarify Belial42's w/u, an example would be if a person had a cardiac arrest, and I performed Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation, breaking a rib or two in the process, I couldn't be sued by the person whose life I sustained, unless I accepted some sort of payment for saving his life. In such a case, I'd be considered a professional, and not a Good Samaritan.

The 'good samaritan law' was what led the four characters of Seinfeld to be arrested in a small town. They were standing around during a brief stopover on their way to Paris when they happened to witness an obese man getting robbed. Instead of helping him in any way, our four protagonists stood on the sidewalk across from the robbery and gawked at it. Kramer even filmed the scenario on his new camcorder, thus recording not only the group's utter disdain for the poor victim but the tasteless comments they (mostly George) made throughout the event.

When it was over the four were walking slowly away, bored and disappointed that the spectacle was over and wondering what could entertain them next, when the obese man who'd been robbed brought a police officer over. They were arrested under the 'good samaritan law' and later brought to trial, at which the plaintiffs brought numerous character witnesses to the stand to help illustrate just how shallow these people actually were.

This was the perfect vehicle for the final episode of the show; a brief recap of the many hilarious situations they'd been in throughout earlier episodes. Countless characters were brought in who had in some way been hilariously privy to the selfish actions and attitudes of our Seinfeld, George, Elaine and Kramer, until they were eventually thrown in jail for their lifetimes of shallowness and the show came to a final close.