Opinion of the Court
which Halberstam rested and to which JASTA’s common-law terminology points.
As we have recognized, “[a]iding and abetting is an ancient criminal law doctrine” that has substantially influenced its analog in tort. Central Bank of Denver, 511 U. S., at 181. In one early statement of the criminal-law doctrine, William Blackstone explained that those who were “present, aiding and abetting the fact to be done,” or “procure[d], counsel[ed], or command[ed] another to commit a crime,” were guilty and punishable. 4 Commentaries on the Laws of England 34, 36 (1795). Over the years, many statutes and courts have offered variations on that basic rule. See United States v. Peoni, 100 F. 2d 401, 402 (CA2 1938) (L. Hand, J., for the court) (collecting authorities). Yet, to this day, the basic “view of culpability” that animates the doctrine is straightforward: “[A] person may be responsible for a crime he has not personally carried out if he helps another to complete its commission.” Rosemond v. United States, 572 U. S. 65, 70 (2014).
Importantly, the concept of “helping” in the commission of a crime—or a tort—has never been boundless. That is because, if it were, aiding-and-abetting liability could sweep in innocent bystanders as well as those who gave only tangential assistance. For example, assume that any assistance of any kind were sufficient to create liability. If that were the case, then anyone who passively watched a robbery could be said to commit aiding and abetting by failing to call the police. Yet, our legal system generally does not impose liability for mere omissions, inactions, or nonfeasance; although inaction can be culpable in the face of some independent duty to act, the law does not impose a generalized duty to rescue. See 1 W. LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law §6.1 (3d ed. 2018) (LaFave); W. Keeton, D. Dobbs, R. Keeton, & D. Owen, Prosser and Keeton on Law of Torts 373–375 (5th ed. 1984) (Prosser & Keeton). Moreover, both criminal and tort law typically sanction only
