"It is imperative that when thousands of selfless volunteers respond to those who have incurred the wrath of a natural disaster that legal liability need not be hanging over their heads"
About this Quote
In disaster zones, goodwill can turn into a legal minefield, and Jon Porter is bluntly trying to clear it. The line is engineered as a pressure campaign: “imperative” signals urgency, “thousands” supplies scale, and “selfless volunteers” frames the actors as morally unassailable before anyone raises the inevitable question of accountability. By the time we reach “legal liability,” the audience has been positioned to see lawsuits not as protection for victims but as a perverse punishment for altruism.
Porter’s phrasing also shifts agency in a telling way. People don’t just suffer a hurricane or wildfire; they “incur the wrath” of a natural disaster, a quasi-biblical construction that heightens drama and invites a communal, almost righteous response. That theatrical language does political work: it turns policy into a matter of decency under duress, not a technical debate about tort reform, immunity statutes, or the boundaries of negligence.
The subtext is a familiar American anxiety: the culture of litigation as a deterrent to civic action. He’s speaking to volunteers, local governments, and nonprofits who worry that one misstep in chaotic conditions could mean years in court. He’s also signaling to business-friendly and conservative constituencies who favor liability shields as a default fix.
Contextually, this reads like advocacy for Good Samaritan protections expanded to mass emergencies. The rhetorical gamble is that the public will prioritize rapid response over the messy reality that sometimes “selfless” help still causes harm, and that liability is one of the few tools ordinary people have when institutions fail them.
Porter’s phrasing also shifts agency in a telling way. People don’t just suffer a hurricane or wildfire; they “incur the wrath” of a natural disaster, a quasi-biblical construction that heightens drama and invites a communal, almost righteous response. That theatrical language does political work: it turns policy into a matter of decency under duress, not a technical debate about tort reform, immunity statutes, or the boundaries of negligence.
The subtext is a familiar American anxiety: the culture of litigation as a deterrent to civic action. He’s speaking to volunteers, local governments, and nonprofits who worry that one misstep in chaotic conditions could mean years in court. He’s also signaling to business-friendly and conservative constituencies who favor liability shields as a default fix.
Contextually, this reads like advocacy for Good Samaritan protections expanded to mass emergencies. The rhetorical gamble is that the public will prioritize rapid response over the messy reality that sometimes “selfless” help still causes harm, and that liability is one of the few tools ordinary people have when institutions fail them.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
|---|
More Quotes by Jon
Add to List
