Trapped miners... safety violations??

You've probably heard the news on the trapped miners out in Utah. You can find the latest here.

Interestingly, the coverage on this always mentions the safety record of the mine (which has apparently had lots of violations in the past).
"Over the past three years, the mine was cited at least 300 times -- with 118 of those citations for violations serious enough to cause death, records show."

So... of course we don't want to jump to conclusions, but it leaves several interesting ethical questions looming, such as:

Is the owner of the mine responsible for the deaths of these miners (if they don't make it), due to not resolving the safety problems in the past?
Even if it can be shown to be an accident, does the past record of the mine still have a normative impact on the current crisis?

Summer Hiatus over... a new semester has begun

Welcome back, RRfStV regulars! The summer is over (academically, anyway) and the school year has begun again up here at USAFA.

We'll resume regular blogging now.

Welcome, as well, to the new crop of ethics students who will be interacting on here.

Lot's of important stuff to catch up on in the world of ethics.