Hertz bug leads to people being erroneously arrested and jailed

Re:Hertz bug leads to people being erroneously arrested and ... by mirimir on Friday May 17, 2019 @02:50AM (#19936940)

Whatever Hertz did or didn't do to let this happen (albeit rarely) is their fault. So plaintiffs clearly have grounds to sue Hertz. Police departments were also affected, so they arguably also have standing.

But criminal charges? Maybe if people were getting killed over it. Otherwise it's just a civil matter.

Edit: fat fingers

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Re:Hertz bug leads to people being erroneously arrested and ... by harry8 on Friday May 17, 2019 @03:23AM (#19937140)

Taking an action that deprives someone of their liberty for two weeks? Sounds criminal to me. Doesn't to you? As has been pointed out there are multiple failures including law enforcement.

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Re:Hertz bug leads to people being erroneously arrested and ... by kevin_b_er on Friday May 17, 2019 @11:24AM (#19940449)

Hertz inadvertently kidnapped someone for 2 weeks. I'm sure kidnapping is a crime we can hold the Hertz executives up to.

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Re:Hertz bug leads to people being erroneously arrested and ... by Johnny555 on Friday May 17, 2019 @03:21AM (#19937120)

If I spend 2 weeks (or even 2 hours) in prison due to someone's false accusation, I'd also want to press for criminal charges.

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Re:Hertz bug leads to people being erroneously arrested and ... by mirimir on Friday May 17, 2019 @03:29AM (#19937183)

I get that. I'd feel that way too.

But consider medical malpractice. Even when a surgeon screws up, and the patient is disabled for life, there are rarely criminal charges. And this is lots more indefinite than that. I mean, you're going to put some employee in jail because they screwed up paperwork?

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Re:Hertz bug leads to people being erroneously arrested and ... by brohee on Friday May 17, 2019 @06:21AM (#19938090)

Yes? Why the hell not, it's pretty obvious that such paperwork has life and death consequences (it's only a matter of time before a customer is shot during his arrest, because the cop "feared for his life").

We put people in jail for drinking too much when that leads to bad consequences, why not for sloppy paperwork that get someone falsely imprisoned or killed?

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Re:Hertz bug leads to people being erroneously arrested and ... by mirimir on Friday May 17, 2019 @07:53AM (#19938615)

Intent matters a lot re criminal charges.

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Re:Hertz bug leads to people being erroneously arrested and ... by Johnny555 on Friday May 17, 2019 @11:20AM (#19940415)

As does negligence. If I'm target shooting from my house to a target across a busy road, if I accidentally shoot someone, I'd expect to go to jail even if it was a simple mistake.

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