The family of 3-year-old Ke’Torrius “K.J.” Starkes Jr. is remembering the little boy as a “joyful,” “brilliant” “happy boy who loved life, who would light up any room that he would enter into.”
The toddler died after he was trapped inside a hot car while in the custody of a worker contracted by the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the state’s child protective services agency, according to the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office and the state Department of Human Resources. The Birmingham Police Department is investigating the death.
K.J. had been left inside a car parked outside a home in Birmingham for several hours during the middle of the day on Tuesday, the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
So a couple of things. I have said in various comments that the worker shouldn’t be off the hook, but that jail doesn’t seem like it would do anything positive. From your comment on how the job is so bad that only people feeling a higher calling apply, that would mean jailing the person would not cause someone who isn’t competent from applying. So again what is the point of jail. I mean maybe it will keep them from killing themselves, so I guess there is that. Next, parents very often do not get charged or punished… https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/07/14/parents-charged-hot-car-deaths/7771928001/ As for gross negligence, it has a legal definition. And there is no way for us to know from the facts released if it is or is not gross negligence… https://www.bellpollockinjury.com/understanding-difference-between-negligence-gross-negligence/ For parents, their life is generally filled with kid related triggers. They go in a store and think “do we need more milk for junior”. Food place, “I wonder if junior would eat that”. Thier own car probably has cheerios on the driver side floor matt to remind them of thier child. A csp worker most likely does not have any of these things to remind them of the child who is in thier back seat. In fact given how tough the job is, when they are anywhere else, they probably block it out. I will agree that humans have a desire for retribution. But a better word is revenge. Yet we need to rise above that, look for a way to support the greater good. This person, if not grossly negligent, should be allowed to attone for their mistake, which they can’t likely do from jail. Community service, and things like that seem a better fit. And obviously they should not be allowed to be responsible 1 on 1 for vunerable people again.
Revenge and retribution are not the same thing. Retribution is getting justice so the person feels made more whole. Vengeance/revenge is destroying the actor who committed the action.
We don’t have a society that rehabilitates other, we only have a system that jails people, and unfortunately for her, that is what I think should happen.
Yes, I know that gross negligence has a legal definition, and I’m using it specifically in this case because a CPS worker negligently left a child in her hot car for hours while she went on personal errands. All she had to do was look in her rearview mirror to see the child. Put a sticky note on the fucking steering wheel. She could have done a number of things differently to ensure the child’s still alive.
As for atoning for this person’s mistakes, they can atone from jail, where they can also serve out community service. Ultimately, this is for a court to decide which I think is the most appropriate as I don’t think we’ll see eye to eye on this one.
For instance this would have made a significant difference
https://www.nsc.org/newsroom/just-21-states-protect-children-hot-cars
You’re also wrong that parents aren’t often charged. According to this study, 58% of parents who leave their child in a hot car face charges after the fact.
https://journalistsresource.org/health/child-dead-left-hot-car-research/#%3A~%3Atext=Researchers+analyzed+541+cases+of
Well, I can see you didn’t read the link on gross negligence. I can see you move the goalposts on parents getting charged. By the way the article also said of those who do get charged, the grand jury often refuses to indite. And revenge and retribution are commonly interchangeable, yet have subtle differences that are nothing like you describe. In fact in a why you have them swapped. The reality is I have less empathy than the average person. Which is why I can put aside my feeling about the loss of a child and be somewhat objective. You on the other hand are presenting like someone letting thier empathy drive a need for vengence even though you personally were not wronged.
Ask yourself this. Will you follow this case to find out if she getd put in jail? If not, than if the person does go to jail it isn’t going to change anything for you or anyone else not personally involved. In fact, you already assume they will be charged and go to jail even though the data says otherwise. You can hold on to that if it makes you feel better, and this person wouldn’t need to go to jail to provide you that. So putting them in jail serves no purpose. Again assuming it isn’t a case of legally defined gross negligence.
The irony of claiming I didn’t read a link that is paywalled is hilarious, especially considering that you didn’t read my comment very carefully, considering that I said she should be judged by the courts.
Those parents are charged, which is what I said should happen to the social worker. And I didn’t move the goalpost, I pointed out that 58% of parents are charged based on this study that you clearly didn’t look at.
Your lack of empathy is showing because you cannot possibly imagine the amount of pain that these parents are going through and the type of justice that they will need. Not only do they need to be made whole by her, they need to be made whole by the state. She was grossly negligent in forgetting a child in the car when there are multiple, multiple things that you can do in order to prevent that. Especially as somebody who is a state representative who of child safety. Forgive me for wanting to hold these people to a higher standard than you.
I’m gonna follow the case enough to know that if she was charged, if she is charged, that’s good enough for me. As I said, this is a matter for the courts to decide, not to blokes on lemmy. We have a justice system in our society, and so, despite how shit it is, I want her to go through it, because that is how these parents will be made whole.
Putting people in jail generally serves as a deterrent and you would know that if you’ve done any sort of research on prison punishment and the abolition of such. Generally putting people in prison or jail is to encourage people to not make the same mistakes, which I think is needed. If this person gets a slap on the wrist, then it’s showing that the state doesn’t actually care what happens to your children in state custody and others may potentially be more careless since they know they’re not gonna go to jail if they make such a mistake.
Regardless, I think this person should be charged. The study I linked shows that there is a one in two chance that this person will be charged, or a 58% chance. And if she is charged, there’s a chance that she will go to prison, or jail, for gross negligence since the major function of her job is to ensure child’s safety and not ensuring that child’s safety is gross negligence.
As far as the punishment this person will receive, it’ll be up to the judge and the jury to decide. I do know that if they don’t charge this person that I will be one of the first people out there protesting that decision.