#they're only $180 for like eight weeks!

[fractallogic]

I was doing a little Reality Check Research™ for my romance novel and there are adult ice hockey classes like, five miles away from me

maybe I should. like. go to hockey practice

anyway yes indeed there is a AAA league in anaheim that one of the secondary male characters could have played in during his youth, in case anyone was curious

[stormyoceans]

I'm telling you, this vice versa fever is never going away, and I owe a HUGE chunk of it to you. A few thoughts I had in the past hour:

1. There isn't enough good peuntalay fics on ao3. My boys deserve so much love. I am a sucker for feelings and emotions and i think about them post vv so many times in a week it's just sad. I always welcome recs 🙌🏻

2. Jimmysea went from being almost the same height to SEA being taller than jim and this is something i stay up thinking about. There's just SOMETHING about that height difference that's so DELICIOUS, it makes my imagination run WILD (not in a sexual way, only pure thoughts here)

I will forever come to you about my random peuntalay and morkday thoughts so prepare your inbox 🤭😚

PEOPLE THINK IM KIDDING WHEN I SAY I’LL BE 90 YEARS OLD AND STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS SHOW BUT WATCH ME TRY TO MAKE FRIENDS AT THE RETIREMENT HOME LIKE EXCUSE ME DO Y’ALL KNOW ABOUT QUEEN VICE VERSA THE SERIES THE FIRST OF HER NAME

right now im just so very grateful to have you sharing this endless derangement with me tho 💜 also the fact that im even partly responsible for your vice versa fever makes me way happier than it probably should sfjksgfjsg

unfortunately i don’t have many fic recs ;;;;;; part of it is because these days i have so little free time that i usually give priority to watching shows or reading books, but i also have to admit that i am annoyingly particular when it comes to fanfiction: i need the characterization to be as similar to the one i have in my head as possible, otherwise i just can’t bring myself to fully like the story ;;;;;;;; if you checked ao3, you’ve probably already read the few recs i have, but let me share them anyway to spread some love!!!

a glitch in the universe by @morkofday

After spending almost eight months in their own universe, Puen and Talay are finally getting married. Their wedding day is supposed to be the best day of their lives, the perfect start for their forever together. But as Talay recognizes Tun in Puen's body moments before their wedding ceremony is meant to begin, it becomes obvious that the universe has very different plans for them.

home by NgumNumNom

A 3+1 fic where 3 times Puen felt lonely and didn't know what the comfort of home was vs the 1 time when his home was right beside him. Plus a bonus because we all love fluff.

husbands to be by @distant-screaming

“I just can’t wait to get married to you,” Puen's grin widens. “My husband.” (Puen and Talay plan their wedding. As usual, they don't stay on track for long.)

regretted anticipation by @distant-screaming

Puen knocks on Talay’s door. He hopes the person who opens it this time will be Talay.

they're not that many, but imho these are really good!!!!! i agree with you that we do need more tho!!!!!!

ALSO JIMMYSEA’S HEIGHT THE ULTIMATE LONG LASTING MYSTERY IN THE NOMNOM FANDOM because if we listen to them then jimmy is 180 cm while sea is 178 cm BUT I SWEAR MOST OF THE TIMES SEA DOES LOOK JUST A TINY BIT TALLER SO WHAT'S THE TRUTH!!!!!!!! either way sea really has grown a lot in the past couple of years and it makes me sooooo emotional, he was so teeny tiny back then 🥺

i actually love that they don't have such a big difference in height and build, just enough to have their characters be perfect for cheek kisses and back hugs GOD BLESS

[the-firebird69]

Québec City

Québec City

The inlet is about 200 mi to the north northwest of Quebec City and it's huge that would line up with the east side of Florida believe it or not and the Appalachians would not interfere in hot steamy winds would be blowing throughout the Caroline is Virginia New England DC and Vermont Maine New Hampshire and they will be for quite a while the outlet is to the West it is the South Southeast of the Hudson Bay where that the bay extends out is what looks like a finger of its own to the South Southeast it's like that whole thing with the circle and they have to wall it off and it is going to be huge but it's not open if it was that is the flow.

The flow is due to ships going north from the northeast of Brazil heading to North maybe 5° or 10° to the east and an attempt to head right towards Greenland the ships that are headed towards the two rivers are heading north north west at about 5° west of due north and North Northeast 5° due east of North and those ships are dwindling in about 20 minutes there will be there won't be any more and you can see the wind slowing and stopping unfortunately for me into a gigantic storm and it looks like a second one it really kind of is but we don't think it'll form. In about 3:00 p.m. all the shipping stops and the winds will shift at that time it should be about 20° west of North that's the storm and it is still it still will be the I will still be 180 miles south southeast of us but the direction will change 15 to 20 degrees to the West off North coming up real soon then then it will start changing due West slowly but it won't be too close to us and probably 150 mi away when the storm starts going to do West and then the ships if they leave which they will cuz they plan to go to Greenland they will not push air out here they'll push cold air to Greenland while the inlet is for the South it's not really cold there no it is and that will cool the engines they will also send cooler air here but they may turn the engines up

Thor Freya

Usually turn the engines up and we expect the same but it's not going to fuel the storm it is going to go west and that's what we say

Zig Zag

What a day there's a huge amount of changes going on here they laid off a lot of people this really only 2.3% of what there was as government workers and they are laying off higher-ups it will be down to 1500 by the end of the day. And it will be about 8% private workers and they are going out to select them in councilman and building and planning departments and laying off ancillary and some of the personnel who have higher staff positions. They are also getting rid of two judges in Charlotte county and they were eight and now there are six and after today there will be four. More important to note that after time they're going to fire John rima Lord as sheriff and he's going to blame our son and I kind of needed to do that cuz he's such a jackass and we're going to eliminate him and it's coming up this week after the storm might be a crab attack

[one-boring-person]

Quite Some Trick.

Dwayne (The Lost Boys) x reader

Warnings: light injuries

Context: this is based off a post that @lostbetweenvampiresandmusic reblogged a few days ago, as well as being a sort of request thing for @browneyes528 , seeing as they mentioned that they would like to see a Dwayne fic about his skating, so here you go!

A/N: I did some research for this, because I'm not the most knowledgeable when it comes to skating terms and that, so I hope it's not too inaccurate.💛💛

Masterlist.

Exhilaration courses through me as I kick off the platform, allowing the skateboard below me to roll onto the sloped surface as I lean with it, keeping my balance as much as possible, gritting my teeth as I try to make myself as aerodynamic as I can in the process. My speed picks up at a high rate as the wheels carry me down the smooth decline, air rushing around me, my hair blowing out behind me from under my helmet as I hit the trough of the half-pipe, transitioning easily into another vert up the other side, my body titlting backwards as the board carries my legs upwards, though I quickly correct myself, triumph flooding me as I pop off the top. Once in the air, I grab the board in one hand and twist, managing to force myself round as the blood rushes to my head, gritting my teeth as I realise I'm too close to the deck to pull it off completely. In a split second, I've righted myself in time to hit the vert again, absorbing the impact by bending my knees a little, feeling a little disappointed as I control the descent, and corresponding ascent again, briefly grabbing the board as I lift off the top again, not getting enough air to do anything properly, before returning to the pipe again, halting on the opposite deck.

Chewing my lip, I try to catch my breath, leaning my skateboard against my leg as I lean back against the railing, waiting my turn again as the other skaters move up into line, a guy on skates taking my place at the front. In my head, I evaluate the trick and where it went wrong, knowing it's all down to height and velocity, deciding on what to do next time round, pulling my gloves on further as I make it known I'm in line. As I wait, I look around the skatepark, marvelling at some of the other tricks being pulled off everywhere, wincing as I see someone bail out of a 180 and land on their back, the impact looking painful despite that fact that they instantly stand and get back on their board. Oddly, I find my eyes drawn to them, their long dark hair unkempt as they skate back up to a deck a little way away, the skater turning so that I can see his face.

Somehow, his dark eyes find mine, an eyebrow raising as I feel my jaw drop: he's stunning. His skin is a warmer tanned colour, his toned chest bare beneath the leather jacket he's wearing, his muscles tensing whenever he pushes off, my eyes following his every movement. He's a very proficient skater, despite his fall a couple of minutes ago, the tricks he's pulling off putting some of the veteran skaters around here to shame in their fluidity, the sight of him skating around the skatepark mesmerising to watch, so much so that I nearly miss my turn.

Rolling my shoulders, I tear my eyes away from the dark-haired skater, balancing on my board briefly as I eye the half-pipe ahead of me, trying to spot any snakes or other lines. Upon finding none, I kick off, being sure to give myself as much power as I can as I speed down the slope, crouching slightly. This time round, I move with the board as it enters the climb, giving myself much more air when I pop off the top, allowing me time to grab the board and completely invert myself I start to drop again. Using my momentum, I pull the board around, my body righting itself again in time to hit the ramp again, triumph and pride flaring up in me as I realise I've just pulled off the trick I've been working on for hours. Unfortunately, this means I'm too distracted to notice I've gone over the top of the opposite side, the board flying away from my feet as I fall backwards, brief dread replacing the triumph as I allow myself to crash back to earth. Pain erupts in my back as I connect, harshly, with the concrete, my helmet and elbow pads cracking violently against the hard surface before I lie still, not trusting myself to get up, even though I know I should move, aware that I'm obstructing another skater.

In my haze, I barely register that someone is offering me their hand until they lean down slightly, face coming into view - the brunette from earlier. Eyes widening in embarrassment, I shoot him a small, grateful smile and take his proffered hands allowing him to pull me to my feet again, catching me when I stumble forwards a bit, still a little disorientated, my face bright red as I search for my board, only to find it lying few metres away, beside the skater's one.

"Thank you." I mumble out, picking my way over to my board, still mortified that he saw me fall like that, especially after finally managing to pull off a 360.

"No problem. That was quite some trick you just did." He compliments, smiling at me as he follows, checking me over for any serious injuries; thankfully there are none, but my cocyx and back will be sore for days maybe weeks, though my pride will recover much more quickly, especially after remembering that my saviour fell earlier on.

"You think so?" I question, surprised at his words.

"Yeah, it looked really smooth. You done it before?" He confirms, offering his hand again after a second, this time for me to shake, "I'm Dwayne by the way."

Gingerly, I take it, his skin icy underneath my bare fingertips, the frigidity seeping in through the fabric of my gloves.

"I'm (Y/n), nice to meet you. That was my first time actually managing to get the full way round. I messed up the ending, though, so it wasn't that much of a success."

"Ah, well, these things take practice. I can help you out if you want?" He offers, lifting an eyebrow in questioning.

"Are you sure? I'm nowhere near as good as you, I'd just be annoying to have around." I muse, recalling the elegant ease in which he skates, as if he's had decades of practice, even though he only looks twenty or younger.

"Of course! I wouldn't offer if I didn't mean it. And I've seen you skate, you're not half as bad as you make yourself out to be." He confirms, smiling at me as we seat ourselves on the edge of one of the sections of the large bowl, having checked for other skaters before doing so.

"You think so?"

"I do."

"Well, thank you, I guess. I'll take you up on the offer, if you don't mind. I've been trying to get that trick for months." I agree, smiling back at him, realising I'm enjoying his company.

"I look forward to it, but first I think you should rest a bit, especially after your fall." Dwayne advises, gesturing to the rapidly forming bruises on my elbows.

"Yeah, I guess I should." I agree, inspecting the ugly purple marks, "Wanna get something to eat? I think I'm done here for today."

"Sure, let's go." The brunette accepts, climbing to his feet before helping me up again, the two of us swiftly skating from the skatepark. My pace is slower than normal, but I manage to keep up with the taller skater anyhow, the two if us continuing to talk as we go, pulling up in front of a stall selling food just a little way away from the Boardwalk. We order some chips and water, heading over to the wall separating the beach and the pavement in order to sit and eat, the two of us content to just chew our food in companipnable silence. As we finish, we start up the conversation again.

"So how long have you been skating for?" Dwayne inquires, looking over at me curiously.

"A few years now. My parents never really liked the idea of me doing it, so it took some time to convince them." I inform him, picking at the hem of my shorts a little.

"Why?"

"Well, they thought I should do a "real" sport, you know? Apparently skating is not good enough for them."

"They should watch you sometime, they'd change their minds immediately." Dwayne shrugs, my eyes straying to his bare chest as I notice his toned muscles moving under the tanned skin.

"I doubt I could get them anywhere near a skateboard, let alone a skatepark." I chuckle bitterly, sighing in frustration at the thought of my parents and their old-fashioned views, "How about you? How long have you been skating?"

Oddly, he looks a little hesitant to reply, seemingly considering his answer in his head before giving it.

"Since I first laid eyes on a board, I guess. I fell in love with the idea." He finally says, running a finger over the line of his board with a proud smile on his face, "I've had this board ever since I started."

"You've never broken a board?! How?!" I exclaim, recalling the three times I've snapped a board in half after going over a ramp too quickly, or by trying to skate down a flight of steps.

"I don't known I guess I'm just too careful." He laughs, looking over at me again.

Behind us, a few shouts of his name draw our attention, the skater's shoulders visibly sagging as he spots someone in the crowd, my own eyes swiftly finding them.

"You know them?" I ask him carefully, wary of offending him or his group of biker friends, the platinum blonde clearly eyeing me up from across the Boardwalk.

"Yeah, they're my brothers. I've gotta go, but I'll see you at the skatepark again tomorrow? At eight?" He affirms, looking slightly frustrated.

"Sure, I'll be there. It was nice meeting you, Dwayne."

'It was nice meeting you, too." He responds, smiling at me as he gets up, skating away from me with a quick goodbye, a small feeling of excitement rising in me at the thought of seeing him again. Before he leaves earshot, however, I call out his name, making him turn around.

"Thanks for not laughing at me when I fell!" I shout to him, grinning at the brunette.

"Only an idiot would!" He responds, waving once more as he returns to his brothers.

Twisting back around, I continue to smile to myself as I go over the last hour or so, glad to have made a new friend, even if I did gain an injury in the process.

[orendrasingh]

Tyson Foods recently suspended production at its Waterloo, Iowa, pork processing plant due to a growing coronavirus outbreak among employees. The plant was Tyson’s largest, employing some 2,800 workers and processing 19,500 pigs a day. At least 180 confirmed infections originated from the plant, about half of all cases in the county.It’s not the first meat processing plant to close. In the U.S., at least eight have halted in recent weeks, affecting over 15% of the nation’s pork processing capacity. As a result, pig farmers have begun euthanizing hundreds and potentially tens of thousands of animals that can’t be processed – raising fears of a meat shortage on grocery shelves. Managers at essential companies like Tyson considering plant shutdowns over coronavirus are weighing a variety of factors, from worker safety and profits to keeping afloat a US$230 billion segment of the U.S. economy that supplies food for hundreds of millions of Americans.As a corporate and white-collar crime scholar, I believe there’s another variable they’re weighing: criminal liability. Coronavirus crimePut simply, executives at food companies like Tyson face a heightened risk of criminal prosecution for the decisions they make. This is due to a quirk in American law, known as the “responsible corporate officer doctrine,” that allows senior executives in certain industries to be held criminally responsible for wrongdoing at their companies – even if they’ve never set foot in a plant or factory.In the case of the coronavirus pandemic, potential criminal liability stems from a meatpacking facility sending out a contaminated product and knowing there was an outbreak among employees. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not found evidence that COVID-19 has been transmitted through meat or poultry, public health officials have said that coronavirus strains can live at low and freezing temperatures and on food packaging. And so much about the risks of COVID-19 are uncertain and evolving that companies need to be on their toes. In addition, there’s the danger that if plants stay in operation without enough workers, there’s a greater risk for other types of food contamination, like of E. coli or salmonella. And the Food and Drug Administration has reduced the number of inspections during the outbreak, which doesn’t limit the criminal liability of executives if tainted food reaches a consumer. This means food safety procedures are paramount to keeping the public safe. Executives that don’t take steps to ensure those procedures are in place – for example, by keeping processing lines going as usual while employee infections spike – are at risk of ignoring their legal duties and becoming a “responsible corporate officer.”Normally, criminal law insists that a defendant must be aware that he’s doing something wrong to be held liable. But courts have decided that this element of intent can be ignored in limited situations where the public’s health and welfare are at stake – namely, in the making of drugs and in food production. ‘Strict liability’Although the responsible corporate officer doctrine is an anomaly in the criminal law, it has a lengthy history. In 1943, the Supreme Court in United States v. Dotterweich found that the president and general manager of a pharmaceutical company was liable for the misbranding of the company’s drugs that were later distributed across state lines. In upholding his conviction under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the court stated that there need not be a showing that Joseph Dotterweich knew of the illegal activity. The court reasoned that Congress had balanced the relative hardships that came from imposing “strict liability” on corporate executives who had a “responsible share” in the illegal conduct and those imposed on the innocent public “who are wholly helpless.” Dotterweich was found guilty by a jury and had to pay a small fine. Thirty years later, in United States v. Park, the Supreme Court again considered the responsible corporate officer doctrine, this time specific to food distribution. John Park, president and CEO of a national food chain, was charged with violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for allowing food to be shipped from company warehouses infested with rats.Although the contamination occurred in locations Park did not personally oversee, the court found him responsible. The court held that the food act imposes not only a positive duty to seek out and remedy violations but also a duty to “implement measures that will insure that violations will not occur.” While this standard is demanding, the court conceded, the public has a right to expect executives to assume such a standard when taking positions of authority that affect the health and well-being of the public. He was required to pay a small fine. While the penalties in responsible corporate officer cases have mostly been minor, some have involved months of jail time. For example, in 2016, the Eighth Circuit not only upheld the conviction of two executive owners of a large Iowa egg production company for not preventing a salmonella outbreak, but also their three-month jail sentences. Relying on the previous Supreme Court rulings, the court in United States v. DeCoster brushed aside arguments that jailing the the owner and his son for a strict liability crime violated the Constitution. The punishment was proportionate and reasonable, the court found, for those overseeing “egregious” safety and sanitation procedures that allowed salmonella-contaminated eggs to enter the market and sicken consumers. Executive dutiesSo what does this mean for executives at American food companies today? While it would be easy for those executives with responsibility over our nation’s food supply to defer to others, such as governors or the president, that thinking ignores their own duties – legal and ethical – as well as their own criminal risk.The law is clear that even if an executive is not involved in the day-to-day operations of production, he or she could be held criminally responsible for the distribution of contaminated food. That’s one more risk to weigh in the decision to keep the plant doors open. Let’s see if it tips the balance. [Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]

Este artículo se vuelve a publicar de The Conversation, un medio digital sin fines de lucro dedicado a la diseminación de la experticia académica.

Lee mas:

Why farmers are dumping milk down the drain and letting produce rot in fields

Migrant workers face further social isolation and mental health challenges during coronavirus pandemic

Todd Haugh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2zB0OXG

[batenchantingcollectorsong]

Tyson Foods recently suspended production at its Waterloo, Iowa, pork processing plant due to a growing coronavirus outbreak among employees. The plant was Tyson’s largest, employing some 2,800 workers and processing 19,500 pigs a day. At least 180 confirmed infections originated from the plant, about half of all cases in the county.It’s not the first meat processing plant to close. In the U.S., at least eight have halted in recent weeks, affecting over 15% of the nation’s pork processing capacity. As a result, pig farmers have begun euthanizing hundreds and potentially tens of thousands of animals that can’t be processed – raising fears of a meat shortage on grocery shelves. Managers at essential companies like Tyson considering plant shutdowns over coronavirus are weighing a variety of factors, from worker safety and profits to keeping afloat a US$230 billion segment of the U.S. economy that supplies food for hundreds of millions of Americans.As a corporate and white-collar crime scholar, I believe there’s another variable they’re weighing: criminal liability. Coronavirus crimePut simply, executives at food companies like Tyson face a heightened risk of criminal prosecution for the decisions they make. This is due to a quirk in American law, known as the “responsible corporate officer doctrine,” that allows senior executives in certain industries to be held criminally responsible for wrongdoing at their companies – even if they’ve never set foot in a plant or factory.In the case of the coronavirus pandemic, potential criminal liability stems from a meatpacking facility sending out a contaminated product and knowing there was an outbreak among employees. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not found evidence that COVID-19 has been transmitted through meat or poultry, public health officials have said that coronavirus strains can live at low and freezing temperatures and on food packaging. And so much about the risks of COVID-19 are uncertain and evolving that companies need to be on their toes. In addition, there’s the danger that if plants stay in operation without enough workers, there’s a greater risk for other types of food contamination, like of E. coli or salmonella. And the Food and Drug Administration has reduced the number of inspections during the outbreak, which doesn’t limit the criminal liability of executives if tainted food reaches a consumer. This means food safety procedures are paramount to keeping the public safe. Executives that don’t take steps to ensure those procedures are in place – for example, by keeping processing lines going as usual while employee infections spike – are at risk of ignoring their legal duties and becoming a “responsible corporate officer.”Normally, criminal law insists that a defendant must be aware that he’s doing something wrong to be held liable. But courts have decided that this element of intent can be ignored in limited situations where the public’s health and welfare are at stake – namely, in the making of drugs and in food production. ‘Strict liability’Although the responsible corporate officer doctrine is an anomaly in the criminal law, it has a lengthy history. In 1943, the Supreme Court in United States v. Dotterweich found that the president and general manager of a pharmaceutical company was liable for the misbranding of the company’s drugs that were later distributed across state lines. In upholding his conviction under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the court stated that there need not be a showing that Joseph Dotterweich knew of the illegal activity. The court reasoned that Congress had balanced the relative hardships that came from imposing “strict liability” on corporate executives who had a “responsible share” in the illegal conduct and those imposed on the innocent public “who are wholly helpless.” Dotterweich was found guilty by a jury and had to pay a small fine. Thirty years later, in United States v. Park, the Supreme Court again considered the responsible corporate officer doctrine, this time specific to food distribution. John Park, president and CEO of a national food chain, was charged with violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for allowing food to be shipped from company warehouses infested with rats.Although the contamination occurred in locations Park did not personally oversee, the court found him responsible. The court held that the food act imposes not only a positive duty to seek out and remedy violations but also a duty to “implement measures that will insure that violations will not occur.” While this standard is demanding, the court conceded, the public has a right to expect executives to assume such a standard when taking positions of authority that affect the health and well-being of the public. He was required to pay a small fine. While the penalties in responsible corporate officer cases have mostly been minor, some have involved months of jail time. For example, in 2016, the Eighth Circuit not only upheld the conviction of two executive owners of a large Iowa egg production company for not preventing a salmonella outbreak, but also their three-month jail sentences. Relying on the previous Supreme Court rulings, the court in United States v. DeCoster brushed aside arguments that jailing the the owner and his son for a strict liability crime violated the Constitution. The punishment was proportionate and reasonable, the court found, for those overseeing “egregious” safety and sanitation procedures that allowed salmonella-contaminated eggs to enter the market and sicken consumers. Executive dutiesSo what does this mean for executives at American food companies today? While it would be easy for those executives with responsibility over our nation’s food supply to defer to others, such as governors or the president, that thinking ignores their own duties – legal and ethical – as well as their own criminal risk.The law is clear that even if an executive is not involved in the day-to-day operations of production, he or she could be held criminally responsible for the distribution of contaminated food. That’s one more risk to weigh in the decision to keep the plant doors open. Let’s see if it tips the balance. [Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]

Este artículo se vuelve a publicar de The Conversation, un medio digital sin fines de lucro dedicado a la diseminación de la experticia académica.

Lee mas:

Why farmers are dumping milk down the drain and letting produce rot in fields

Migrant workers face further social isolation and mental health challenges during coronavirus pandemic

Todd Haugh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2zB0OXG

[saadullah-faisal-world]

Tyson Foods recently suspended production at its Waterloo, Iowa, pork processing plant due to a growing coronavirus outbreak among employees. The plant was Tyson’s largest, employing some 2,800 workers and processing 19,500 pigs a day. At least 180 confirmed infections originated from the plant, about half of all cases in the county.It’s not the first meat processing plant to close. In the U.S., at least eight have halted in recent weeks, affecting over 15% of the nation’s pork processing capacity. As a result, pig farmers have begun euthanizing hundreds and potentially tens of thousands of animals that can’t be processed – raising fears of a meat shortage on grocery shelves. Managers at essential companies like Tyson considering plant shutdowns over coronavirus are weighing a variety of factors, from worker safety and profits to keeping afloat a US$230 billion segment of the U.S. economy that supplies food for hundreds of millions of Americans.As a corporate and white-collar crime scholar, I believe there’s another variable they’re weighing: criminal liability. Coronavirus crimePut simply, executives at food companies like Tyson face a heightened risk of criminal prosecution for the decisions they make. This is due to a quirk in American law, known as the “responsible corporate officer doctrine,” that allows senior executives in certain industries to be held criminally responsible for wrongdoing at their companies – even if they’ve never set foot in a plant or factory.In the case of the coronavirus pandemic, potential criminal liability stems from a meatpacking facility sending out a contaminated product and knowing there was an outbreak among employees. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not found evidence that COVID-19 has been transmitted through meat or poultry, public health officials have said that coronavirus strains can live at low and freezing temperatures and on food packaging. And so much about the risks of COVID-19 are uncertain and evolving that companies need to be on their toes. In addition, there’s the danger that if plants stay in operation without enough workers, there’s a greater risk for other types of food contamination, like of E. coli or salmonella. And the Food and Drug Administration has reduced the number of inspections during the outbreak, which doesn’t limit the criminal liability of executives if tainted food reaches a consumer. This means food safety procedures are paramount to keeping the public safe. Executives that don’t take steps to ensure those procedures are in place – for example, by keeping processing lines going as usual while employee infections spike – are at risk of ignoring their legal duties and becoming a “responsible corporate officer.”Normally, criminal law insists that a defendant must be aware that he’s doing something wrong to be held liable. But courts have decided that this element of intent can be ignored in limited situations where the public’s health and welfare are at stake – namely, in the making of drugs and in food production. ‘Strict liability’Although the responsible corporate officer doctrine is an anomaly in the criminal law, it has a lengthy history. In 1943, the Supreme Court in United States v. Dotterweich found that the president and general manager of a pharmaceutical company was liable for the misbranding of the company’s drugs that were later distributed across state lines. In upholding his conviction under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the court stated that there need not be a showing that Joseph Dotterweich knew of the illegal activity. The court reasoned that Congress had balanced the relative hardships that came from imposing “strict liability” on corporate executives who had a “responsible share” in the illegal conduct and those imposed on the innocent public “who are wholly helpless.” Dotterweich was found guilty by a jury and had to pay a small fine. Thirty years later, in United States v. Park, the Supreme Court again considered the responsible corporate officer doctrine, this time specific to food distribution. John Park, president and CEO of a national food chain, was charged with violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for allowing food to be shipped from company warehouses infested with rats.Although the contamination occurred in locations Park did not personally oversee, the court found him responsible. The court held that the food act imposes not only a positive duty to seek out and remedy violations but also a duty to “implement measures that will insure that violations will not occur.” While this standard is demanding, the court conceded, the public has a right to expect executives to assume such a standard when taking positions of authority that affect the health and well-being of the public. He was required to pay a small fine. While the penalties in responsible corporate officer cases have mostly been minor, some have involved months of jail time. For example, in 2016, the Eighth Circuit not only upheld the conviction of two executive owners of a large Iowa egg production company for not preventing a salmonella outbreak, but also their three-month jail sentences. Relying on the previous Supreme Court rulings, the court in United States v. DeCoster brushed aside arguments that jailing the the owner and his son for a strict liability crime violated the Constitution. The punishment was proportionate and reasonable, the court found, for those overseeing “egregious” safety and sanitation procedures that allowed salmonella-contaminated eggs to enter the market and sicken consumers. Executive dutiesSo what does this mean for executives at American food companies today? While it would be easy for those executives with responsibility over our nation’s food supply to defer to others, such as governors or the president, that thinking ignores their own duties – legal and ethical – as well as their own criminal risk.The law is clear that even if an executive is not involved in the day-to-day operations of production, he or she could be held criminally responsible for the distribution of contaminated food. That’s one more risk to weigh in the decision to keep the plant doors open. Let’s see if it tips the balance. [Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]

Este artículo se vuelve a publicar de The Conversation, un medio digital sin fines de lucro dedicado a la diseminación de la experticia académica.

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Todd Haugh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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