Should Parents Be Go To Jail, When Child Dies In Hot Car?

Every year we hear reports of young children who die because they were left in the back seat of a hot car. So far 13 children have died that way this year. In most cases it is a unintentional mistake. The parents are devastated and remorseful. When this happens and it is believed to be accidental:

1) Should the parent be charged with a crime?

2) If so, should the punishment include jail time? How much?

3) If not, what should happen to the parent? Fine? Community Service etc

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/unimaginable-loss-13-children-died-hot-cars-year-n136871

Yes, they should be charged for crime. Yes, they should go to jail. Probably for a few years.

Yes. Yes they should. How do you forget your kids are in the car?

Pretty much.

1) It's unintentional so I'll say no, especially if they have another child to take care of.

2) None.

3) There should be a background search, some people just shouldn't have the right to be parents, if the info that surfaced suggest this than the government should make both parents sterile.

1) Yes.

2) Possibly life

3) Jail.

Seriously, how do you forget your child? I could understand losing a kid in a department store or something, they tend to wander off, but in a goddamn car? That's just...inexcusable.

@deadite: Seriously, sterilization? That's a bit...harsh.

@wildvine:

a few cases were like this: every day the mom has taken the child to daycare. for some reason the father has to on this particular day. father puts child in back seat. child falls asleep making no sound. the father goes on "autopilot" and goes about his normal routine. passes the daycare and goes to work as he has done everyday for years. Humans can get locked into a routine. I'm not saying it's excusable but autopilot does happen

Why did you underline everything in that paragraph?

I don't care if it's a mistake. That's criminal negligence at best, in my opinion.

@pooty: Involuntary murder is still murder. In the category of whether or not they should be punished, the answer is still yes. And that punishment isn't community service.

Edit: I don't care about semantics.

Yeah, I know it's big taboo for a lot people, might be the majority's opinion for all I know. I've given a lot of thoughts on this topic, basically feel like Government not using their authority to interfere is the same passive aggressive attitude that was made towards keeping Prostitution illegal.

But I understand it's more because how much tax money they'd need in order to build the screening process for this.

Anyway, there's a lot of mountains standing against that futuristic world

If someone is that absent minded, then they don't need to have a kid in the first place.

@deronn_solo: Or even be driving, for that matter.

I have issues with forced sterilization because it's...well, immoral. Forcing alterations on someone's body just feels wrong to me. Forcing them to take some manner of birth control would be...acceptable, I suppose, but I think it would make more sense to just send them to prison or something.

Touché.

@deadite: There should be a background search, some people just shouldn't have the right to be parents, if the info that surfaced suggest this than the government should make both parents sterile.

I also support forced sterilization for this and other reasons. Obviously people don't know when they are not suitable parents. but that's for another thread

I don't think there is a thing called involuntary murder. Murder has to be intentional. You may mean involuntary manslaughter.

@wildvine: actually it's manslaughter, I believe.

No, No, Fined. Someone has to be held responsible for the child's death but accidents happen.

@pooty@avenging_x_bolt

I wasn't sure of the legal term.

Everyone's perfect and believes they would never make a mistake like leaving a kid in the car. Let's say a situation happened like the father forgetting he had the sleeping baby with him. What does sending him to prison do? What could be worse than being responsible for your baby's death?

An accident of this magnitude is inexcusable imo.

I just glad no deadbeats would ever do this on purpose and use the whoopsie excuse. That will never happen...

Well actually it's not, it's manslaughter.

EDIT: That'll teach me to comment before scrolling down and reading the rest. Never mind, carry on.

@squaresIt looks bad, government augmenting things people are born with against their freewill. In a world where homeless people are basically looked at as if they're part of the street, and people see them as something they'd never fell into. When obviously a flash flood, an earthquake, a fire can take away everything they owned and pit them in the same situation, being homeless.

But I also would admit, for a human to be naturally happy, some things they would have to put to the corner of their mind. To really always be aware of how the good things in life could go away, like really appreciate it, sort of makes a bitter person I guess?

Either it makes a Scrooge or a charitable person, probably one of those. My argument is really falling apart before it started..

So the argument I was trying to make is that human brain is built to collect more information to their sights than to their other senses, so it's difficult for us to look pass certain things and see what it really is.

Anyway, I think just something that looks bad doesn't mean it is bad, there's no argument that letting bad people have children's consequences are more horrendous than doping them up and giving them a vasectomy against their freewill.

1) Yes, as a parent they should know better.

2) Life or atleast several decades.

@deadite: ...that post didn't make much sense for the most part, but whatever. Forcing negligent parents to use birth control would be cheaper and more humane. But like I said, I'd prefer to lock them up.

@squares I see that too. Was really trying to make a scientific argument without the knowledge on that field, didn't went well..

Whoa whoa. Careful there champ. The grammar Nazi's are out today looking to be technically right.

Didn't...go well?

*gave salute and ran away*

This. It's terrible neglect. It's like forgetting your child is slowly being lowered into lava.

Neutering for those idiots.

Whatever happened to the first law, "An eye for an eye"?

Yes, it's called negligence.

That means it's involuntary manslaughter, which carries jail time in most cases.

Well...you tried. I guess that counts for something.

Yep

It was replaced with "turn the other cheek"

They should be go to jail.

Neato. So the parents are gonna go up to the kid and slap him on the cheek after it died, only real decision is, left or the right.

@darthaznable:

it's dead. doesn't matter which cheek

...Please tell me you're just trying to further your own point and actually understood what @pooty meant.

@warlock360: Alright then, you had me worried for a minute there.

I'm not sure I'd be quick to to send them off the jail. It really depends. I think an investigation needs to take place to find out what led to it happening in the first place because things like this don't just happen out of nowhere, usually its the result of something else having taken place. It may have very well been an accident, maybe a parent was exhausted, or under pressure. Maybe the baby was quiet and the parent was doing something out of routine. Or maybe it was more malicious such as child abuse gone unnoticed until it was too late. I think every case is different and needs to be seen as such. Whether a person serves time or how much time should be served really depends on the circumstances revolving around the case. I don't like one size fits all.

Yes, but how does one bust a dead child in a car?

It's manslaughter.

Yes

1) Should the parent be charged with a crime?

I don't think so, unless it was proven intentional.

2) If so, should the punishment include jail time? How much?

None, as you said in the OP, only 13 kids have died, maybe if it was 100 or more maybe people would have to be put in prison, I believe technology could easily prevent tragedies such as these. A device of some sort that makes an alarm if you don't take the baby out of the vehicle, phone app or something.

3) If not, what should happen to the parent? Fine? Community Service etc

Honestly couldn't say.

If the crime is not intentional do you honestly believe they should get life in prison? that is ridiculous. Maybe a year or even a couple of months IMO....but life hell no. Murderers and rapist deserve life in prison , not parents who made a mistake.