Questions and Hopefully Answers in the Cooper Harris Case

[human]

I would without any hesitation dump a babysitter who put my child in car without a car seat. I wouldn't bother to ask questions or educate her, I would simply fire her and move on.

If the other parent of my child did something like this, I would do everything possible to educate him....and I would trust him to comprehend the danger and mend his ways.

I'm not fighting about it as we don't even know if this scenario is what happened (though it makes sense to me). I find it very reasonable to expect a couple to converse about these child-rearing situations and to end the conversation with reassurances to each other and trust. Parents are perfectly capable of mending their ways and being trusted, and I would assume LH was reassured that RH wouldn't do it anymore. Of course, this is all speculation anyway.

I wouldn't bother giving a sitter a second chance, but I would trust the father of my child once dangers were discussed. RH, it turns out, wasn't trustworthy, but she didn't know that. His actions are 100% his responsibility in this case.

He's not so feeble that he can't understand the dangers and needs mommy-wife to do everything. The guy should've been able to handle the task of taking his own child to daycare without someone mistrusting him.

Since she is the more responsible one, then they could have worked out a system to make sure, such as he calls her every morning from daycare.

They both would want to make sure that would never happen again. IMHO

 

[Inthedetails]

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They both would want to make sure that would never happen again. IMHO

Of course! But I can't see holding her criminally responsible when Cooper was in his father's care.

 

[MyBelle]

According to: http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2...oy-died-hot-car-death-georgia-search-warrant/
Harris would not have been able to see his son (from the driver’s seat) in the older model.
This is the first time I have heard this! I was under the impression the child was MORE visible in the smaller seat. Anyone?

The older model is referring to the seat in RH's car. iow, because it was rear-facing, his face and body was less visible than the new front-facing seat they had recently purchased. I believe that fact supports their contention Cooper's death may have been intentional.

 

[human]

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Of course! But I can't see holding her criminally responsible when Cooper was in his father's care.

One would think rather than worrying about criminal issues, that one would be concerned about the life of the child

 

[MyBelle]

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Of course! But I can't see holding her criminally responsible when Cooper was in his father's care.

I think there is precedent that a parent has a legal duty to try to protect their child if they are aware of any practice that they know places the child in danger. Hedda Nussbaum was charged in Lisa Steinberg's death and they cut a deal with her in exchange for her testimony. That could happen in this case if they believe LH knew of past instances RH had left Cooper in the car and she failed to protect him from it happening again. Nussbaum was a victim of domestic violence which is one reason she wasn't prosecuted but many felt that wasn't a reason not to prosecute her. It was a very controversial case. I remember it being hotly debated in my office.

JMO

 

[Inthedetails]

One would think rather than worrying about criminal issues, that one would be concerned about the life of the child

The question posed above was if LH should be held criminally responsible if she allowed Cooper to go in the car with her husband. That's what I'm responding to. My answer to that question in this thread is no. I don't think LH should be charged just because she let Cooper ride in the car with RH.

 

[Lovejac]

According to: http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2...oy-died-hot-car-death-georgia-search-warrant/
Harris would not have been able to see his son (from the driver’s seat) in the older model.
This is the first time I have heard this! I was under the impression the child was MORE visible in the smaller seat. Anyone?

I think the wording of that article is what's confusing. I had to re-read it and I take it to mean that the rear facing small car seat is the 'older model'

had moved the boy back into a rear-facing car seat that was too small after acquiring a new front-facing one

So the rear-facing was the older original seat and the front facing was the newer one. Does that make sense?

 

[DeDee]

The wealthy do, it turns out. And the poor, and the middle class. Parents of all ages and ethnicities do it. Mothers are just as likely to do it as fathers. It happens to the chronically absent-minded and to the fanatically organized, to the college-educated and to the marginally literate. In the last 10 years, it has happened to a dentist. A postal clerk. A social worker. A police officer. An accountant. A soldier. A paralegal. An electrician. A Protestant clergyman. A rabbinical student. A nurse. A construction worker. An assistant principal. It happened to a mental health counselor, a college professor and a pizza chef. It happened to a pediatrician. It happened to a rocket scientist.


http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2010-Feature-Writing

 

[Evie Ivy Over]

The wealthy do, it turns out. And the poor, and the middle class. Parents of all ages and ethnicities do it. Mothers are just as likely to do it as fathers. It happens to the chronically absent-minded and to the fanatically organized, to the college-educated and to the marginally literate. In the last 10 years, it has happened to a dentist. A postal clerk. A social worker. A police officer. An accountant. A soldier. A paralegal. An electrician. A Protestant clergyman. A rabbinical student. A nurse. A construction worker. An assistant principal. It happened to a mental health counselor, a college professor and a pizza chef. It happened to a pediatrician. It happened to a rocket scientist.


http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2010-Feature-Writing

This mother was the CEO of a hospital; June, 2001

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92943

At the end if this story: "The case is just one in a rash of such incidents this year. Earlier this month, a Southern California foster mother left a 3-year-old girl in a sport utility vehicle for 15 minutes and she died, succumbing to 108-degree temperatures."

I wonder how many children have been brain injured from being left in a hot care that we never hear about?

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

The wealthy do, it turns out. And the poor, and the middle class. Parents of all ages and ethnicities do it. Mothers are just as likely to do it as fathers. It happens to the chronically absent-minded and to the fanatically organized, to the college-educated and to the marginally literate. In the last 10 years, it has happened to a dentist. A postal clerk. A social worker. A police officer. An accountant. A soldier. A paralegal. An electrician. A Protestant clergyman. A rabbinical student. A nurse. A construction worker. An assistant principal. It happened to a mental health counselor, a college professor and a pizza chef. It happened to a pediatrician. It happened to a rocket scientist.


http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2010-Feature-Writing

It's important to ponder what type of person leaves their infant in the car to die---but I don't think it has anything to do with economic status, employment title, income, geographical location, age, or a few other subsets used to identify or classify.

However, I do have a theory that may be harder to define regarding the type of people whose children are left to die in a hot car.

My hunch is it is more about their psychological issues (i.e. self-absorption, immaturity, narcissism, etc) , and perhaps an inability to be mentally disciplined/focused.

 

[EvilSoup]

Would it not be negligent for her to leave him with a caregiver she knew had a propensity for leaving him behind in the car? Her response at daycare makes it sound as if this was NOT something he'd done just once, and was very clearly her first thought. I had a sitter for my daughter when she was a baby. I provided a car seat. One day I got a call that the sitter's child was in the Emergency Room and I needed to come to the hospital to get my 13 month old. When I arrived, the grandmother, other children, and my daughter were sitting in the babysitter's car (she was in the hospital with her injured child) and there was no car seat. I took her home and began looking for new daycare. If my child had subsequently been injured in an accident with that sitter, I could not have forgiven myself if the car seat was not in use, since I KNEW IN ADVANCE the sitter was NOT using it regularly.

Yes, but there are no laws against that and as we have been told, we need LESS laws, not more.:facepalm:

 

[Linda7NJ]

Yes, but there are no laws against that and as we have been told, we need LESS laws, not more.

Less laws?
It's a good thing I don't rule the world...yet!
I'd outlaw stupid, and start executing those that prey on the young, the old and the weak.
It would look like a mass extermination. I'm sick of the revolving door on prisons...I'm sick of recidivism. I'm sick of rapists, child molesters, abusers and murderers.
I've had it!

IMO

 

[EvilSoup]

Less laws?
It's a good thing I don't rule the world...yet!
I'd outlaw stupid, and start executing those that prey on the young, the old and the weak.
It would look like a mass extermination. I'm sick of the revolving door on prisons...I'm sick of recidivism. I'm sick of rapists, child molesters, abusers and murderers.
I've had it!

IMO

Could not agree more.

I think preemptive laws eliminate the needless legal wrangling.

Bottom line: you do xxxx, you are guilty of xxxx, and will be convicted of xxxx.

 

[Lovejac]

Less laws?
It's a good thing I don't rule the world...yet!
I'd outlaw stupid, and start executing those that prey on the young, the old and the weak.
It would look like a mass extermination. I'm sick of the revolving door on prisons...I'm sick of recidivism. I'm sick of rapists, child molesters, abusers and murderers.
I've had it!

IMO

I might jump party lines for you. :unksam:

Let me know when you decide :usa:

 

[EvilSoup]

I guess it's possible RH could have been responding to someone else. I.don't see.how the way text and im is set up on iPhone, but I don't understand him at all anyway.

All posts are MOO

I have accidentally texted my ex a reply intended for my current husband.

Boy was my face red.

I am VERY careful to look at my recipient before sending. Now.

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

I have accidentally texted my ex a reply intended for my current husband.

Boy was my face red.

I am VERY careful to look at my recipient before sending. Now.

hdear:

 

[EvilSoup]

Less laws?
It's a good thing I don't rule the world...yet!
I'd outlaw stupid, and start executing those that prey on the young, the old and the weak.
It would look like a mass extermination. I'm sick of the revolving door on prisons...I'm sick of recidivism. I'm sick of rapists, child molesters, abusers and murderers.
I've had it!

IMO

Can we outlaw those stupid self-checkouts? Because you can NEVER get through a checkout without having to wait 10 mins for someone who could not care less to meander over and stab at the keypad a few hundred times before asking you, in an accusatory way "well, what did you do wrong?".

I want to say, "Gee, I dunno, maybe YOUR job?"

Sorry for OT. But I need to write my congressperson.

 

[Linda7NJ]

Can we outlaw those stupid self-checkouts? Because you can NEVER get through a checkout without having to wait 10 mins for someone who could not care less to meander over and stab at the keypad a few hundred times before asking you, in an accusatory way "well, what did you do wrong?".

I want to say, "Gee, I dunno, maybe YOUR job?"

Sorry for OT. But I need to write my congressperson.

Absolutely!
If I wanted to be a cashier, I would have filled out an application!!!

~side note: I also hate when I have to put a quarter in to obtain a shopping cart. If they think for one minute I'm walking it back in the rain or 90 degree weather for a QUARTER, they're out of their ever loving minds.

 

[ArianeEmory]

(Wait, what? No. As an impatient introvert, don't take away my self checkout!)

 

[CHERIE.T]

One would think rather than worrying about criminal issues, that one would be concerned about the life of the child

A simple thanks wasn't enough human. :loveyou: