PlatKat.com: A Toddler Dies; The Public Cries

Thursday, September 06, 2007

A Toddler Dies; The Public Cries

Ohio, the foul armpit of a state in which I was born, is now a literal hot-bed of controversy since Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby was not charged for the negligence of her two-year-old daughter that ultimately caused her death.

While it is sad and tragic that a mother would forget her child and leave it in unliveable conditions for multiple hours, I think that charging Nesselroad-Slaby would be a gross misuse of our already blundering justice system. It seems as though she got off on a technicality, an interpretation of Ohio law by the prosecutor. Regardless of this, I don't think that most mothers should be charged when accidentally mishandling their kids.

According to the article, 75 percent of the mothers who've had this happen say they simply forgot. There was no intention to harm the child. It's dispicable that they're mindless enough to leave something in the back of their car as if it were a suitcase or a birthday gift, but giving these mothers jail time for their bad deed isn't going to bring their children back, and it isn't going to stimulate a dramatic change in their lives.

Jail is for people who are dangers to society: rapists, murders, thieves, and to a much lesser extent, drug dealers. These people need to be rehabilitated, or at the very least removed from the general public, so their actions can be contained and in the best-case scenario, changed. Note there is little information to support the idea that jail serves as a constructive means to achieving social normalcy in delinquents.

In most cases (I realize there are some psychos out there), the mothers of the 340 children that have died in hot cars in the last 10 years do not deserve jail time. Their fatal mistake was punishment enough. They're already going to be ostracized by a majority of their family and friends. A lot of them will have to leave the state and find new jobs in efforts to start over and try to live a normal life. Even if they manage to do that, being responsible for another person's death is likely to weigh on them for the rest of their lives.

I don't think this woman should be allowed custody of her current child. I don't think she should have any more kids. I might also suggest she step down as assistant principal and try a career that doesn't involve children. But sentencing her to any amount of time behind bars is a waste of taxpayer time and money.

I'm also curious... we have statistics on children dying in hot cars from the last 10 years. What about the last 20? Or 30? This can't be a new phenomenon. People have always been unable to live when trapped in small, stifling spaces for long periods of time. How was stuff like this handled in 60s? People drove cars, had kids, and ran errands.

The only difference, maybe, is that mothers had a lot less on their plates in earlier decades. Most moms we're thrown off by having to stop and buy doughnuts in the morning because they weren't facing a jam-packed day. Maybe we're so busy trying to do it all that some of us forget our top priorities and accidents like this happen.

Do I find it heinously absurd? Yes.

But is it punishable by law? No. They're receiving their just deserts already.

posted by platkat @ 12:48 PM