Seaman's Manslaughter Statute

rdf:langString Seaman's Manslaughter Statute

rdf:langString right

rdf:langString An Act to provide for the better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam

rdf:langString Steamboat Act of 1838

rdf:langString — §12 of the Steamboat Act of 1838

rdf:langString — §5 of the Steamboat Act of 1905

rdf:langString — §57 of the Steamboat Act of 1871

rdf:langString — §6 of the Steamboat Act of 1864

rdf:langString Vessel owners and operators can be charged for criminal manslaughter for deaths resulting from misconduct or negligence aboard vessels in United States waters

rdf:langString And be it further enacted, That any captain, engineer, or pilot, or other person employed on any steamboat or vessel, by whose misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his or their respective duties on such vessel, the life of any person shall be destroyed, or [if] in consequence of fraud, connivance, misconduct, or violation of law by any owner or inspector, or other public officer, the life of any person shall be destroyed, he or they shall be deemed guilty of manslaughter, and, upon conviction thereof before any circuit court of the United States, shall be sentenced to confinement at hard labor for a period of not more than ten years.

rdf:langString Every captain, engineer, pilot, or other person employed on any steamboat or vessel, by whose misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his duties on such vessel the life of any person is destroyed, and every owner, charterer, inspector, or other public officer, through whose fraud, neglect, connivance, misconduct, or violation of law, the life of any person is destroyed, shall be deemed guilty of the felony of manslaughter, and upon conviction thereof, before any circuit court of the United States, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars, or to confinement at hard labor for a period of not more than ten years, or either, or both: Provided, That when the owner or charterer of any steamboat or vessel shall be a corporation, any executive officer of such corporation, for the time being actually charged with the control and management of the operation, equipment, or navigation of such steamboat or vessel, who has knowingly and willfully caused or allowed such fraud, neglect, connivance, misconduct, or violation of law, by which the life of any person is destroyed, shall be deemed guilty of the felony of manslaughter, and upon conviction thereof, before any circuit court of the United States, shall be sentenced to confinement at hard labor for a period of not more than ten years.

rdf:langString And be it further enacted, That every captain, engineer, pilot, or other person employed on board of any steamboat or vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam, by whose misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his or their respective duties, the life or lives of any person or persons on board said vessel may be destroyed, shall be deemed guilty of manslaughter, and, upon convinction thereof before any circuit court in the United States, shall be sentenced to confinement at hard labor for a period of not more than ten years.

rdf:langString And be it further enacted, That the provisions of section twelve of the act entitled "An act to provide for the better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels proplled in whole or in part by steam," approved July seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, be, and the same are hereby, extended to the owner or owners of any steamboat or other vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam, and to all public officers, by, or in consequences of, whose fraud, connivance, misconduct, or violation of law, the life or lives of any person or persons on board such steamboat or vessel may be destroyed.

rdf:langString The Seaman's Manslaughter Statute, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1115, criminalizes misconduct or negligence that result in deaths involving vessels (ships and boats) on waters in the jurisdiction of the United States. The statute exposes three groups to criminal liability: * ship's officers, such as captains, engineers, and pilots; * those having responsibility for the vessel's condition, such as owners, charterers, and inspectors; and * corporate management. Unlike common law manslaughter, which requires a mens rea or mental state of gross negligence or heat of passion in absence of malice, this statute requires only simple negligence — a breach of duty to perform an act or omission in violation of a standard of care. The accident need not occur on a boat, and the threshold of criminal liability is lower than in standard manslaughter cases due to the reduced mens rea requirement.