A Bloomberg News report[s] that the U.S. Justice Department is considering manslaughter charges in its investigation of BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico…But if criminal charges are filed against individuals involved in the disaster, it would be a rare event. An analysis of industrial disasters by University of Maryland law professor Jane Barrett shows that company managers are almost never charged in industrial accidents - even in disasters that have killed more people than the 11 men who died in last year's explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig…"If [the Justice Daprtment is]...able to prosecute individuals, they'll send a message that a large corporate criminal find won't shield culpable individuals from prosecution…A spokesman at BP declined to respond to an inquiry for comment.