Remember the tragic story of Kara Neumann? She was the 11 year old girl who died of complications due to diabetes while her Christian Science parents prayed for her. What was a highly treatable conditioned thanks to today’s modern medicine turned into second degree reckless homicide.
If you were hoping that the judge was going to throw the book at them, get ready to be severely disappointed. All they got was 10 years probation, and they have to spend one month in jail every year for 6 years. It’s kind of like going to camp for the summer, except that rather than cooking marshmallows by the roaring fire, you’re trying to avoid getting corn-holed in the shower.
I’m glad that the case is finally over and that the parents are going to be punished, but in the end a little girl still died because of her parents ignorant beliefs. It’s frustrating that this kind of thing keeps happening all the time, but until we stop believing in primitive superstitions, these types of tragedies will continue to be fairly common.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
There was a similar case in Canada, and if it makes you feel any better, the Supreme Court bitchslapped the parents with recklessness causing death.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Belief in something doesn’t give people the right to subject someone else to death. And the penalty should be 15-life.
October 7th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Those idiots deserved death sentence. This verdict is a mockery of the whole justice system.
October 7th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
The death sentence should at least be relegated to people who know they are doing wrong. These people don’t seem to fit that
October 7th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
It’s a good thing they didn’t kill a dog otherwise they could have gotten 2 years in prison instead of 6 months!
October 8th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
@Ryan, When was the case in Canada? Any links about it?
@Razzle, I’m not going to go into whether they deserved the death penalty, but determining the severity of punishment based on whether the people involved “knew they were doing wrong” is asinine.
Ask anyone who has killed in the name of their god(s) and they’ll tell you they were doing the right thing.
Letting someone die isn’t always the same as killing them, but in this case, the parents chose prayer over treatment and killed their child, they actively chose to let their kid die. I don’t care if they thought their sky-god was going to lend a hand, what they did was murder.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Razzle, if you know that you are doing something wrong then you might at least feel bad about it. They don’t even think they done something wrong, therefore in my book they are worse than a killer who knows what he’s doing.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:04 am
It’s worse to know that you’re doing is wrong and still do wrong, than to think you’re trying to do the right thing and do wrong. Most justice systems are set up around this. These people didn’t have malice in their hearts, just stupidity. Malice is worse.
October 10th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
I’d rather have a smart criminal than a stupid saint.
October 10th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Oh ,like the head of a terrorist movement, or a crime boss, as opposed to the guy who he tricked into doing his bidding?