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When the party at a Milwaukee apartment turned ugly, a 16-year-old girl was beaten so badly she was left with a footprint on her face and her hosts were left with convictions for failing to help her.
It was a rare case of prosecution in America for failing to help someone in need.
European countries typically have "good Samaritan" laws that make it a crime not to summon aid or help someone in an emergency, as highlighted by the investigation of photographers at the scene of Princess Diana's car crash.
Not so in the United States.
Only a handful of states require people to help strangers in distress. Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin have three of the strongest laws, and even those are narrowly written, carry light penalties and are seldom used.
The law books appear to reflect cultural differences between American individualism and European social solidarity,...