to grocery stores with the message: “Texans can rejoice today as Blue Bell ice cream makes its long-awaited comeback in freezer aisles across the state.”
No one from Blue Bell faced criminal charges, despite the 10 hospitalizations and three deaths. The company was, only $175,000 of which it ultimately ended up paying . The teenage ice cream licker, had she been older, would have faced up to 20 years of jail time. It’s a strange quirk of the human psyche that we are so often more preoccupied with the actions of individuals, rather than the actions of the larger corporations, institutions, and systems that have a lot more say in how the world works.
In other words, in the face of vast, daunting problems that feel beyond our reach, we have a tendency to latch onto what feels concrete and closer within reach: the supposition that all we need to do to prevent ourselves getting sick from our favorite dessert is to catch one or two bad guys in the stores we frequent every day. It’s easier than dwelling on the distant patchwork of regulators and quality-assurance managers and executives skirting corners at the expense of safety.
Whoever wrote this article is a fool. This isn't about protection of corporations or anything. Blue Bell is a business with a LOT of people making decisions. Also, BB may not have faced criminal charges but they lost a shit ton of business for three+ solid years. Lastly, INTENT.
The difference is intent
Eater fails to comprehend the significant difference between a negligent act and an intentional act. Idiots. Scienter. Look it up
Well the listeria was not colored like the criminals who who did the licks.
Ridiculous? Yes. Surprising? Not at all. Corporations and other businesses are the primary beneficiaries of the American justice system.
Because one was an intentional act and the other an accident? 🤷♂️
I wouldn't call it prank.... but I get the point.
You can’t go to jail for 20 years. Once you’re sentenced, you go to prison