Slow and Fatal Justice: Priscilla Owens

PDiddie,

Thanks for posting this story. Oh, what a twisted web is woven here. I will read it again and come back to comment.

PDiddie
About par for the course. Dead men tell no tales. That's why responsible people have to tell it for them.

God, Higher Power, Morality, ie however we see it, please forgive me; other PUP members, please forgive me; my own conscience, please forgive me; but, my first response was that maybe the 3rd plane on 9/11/01 should have crashed in D.C. after all ...

You have a right to your opinion, sc.
It far outranks the most hideous statements I've read in this community.
In my opinion.
I hope when you think of the reality of that statement, you think better of it.

---------------

How could one prove seat belt failure? I can imagine a crash so violent that a seat belt would snap, not that I have any information this was the case. I just wonder how the case was proven.

As tragic as this story is, people are maimed and killed every day. Manufacturers can't shell out 40 mil to all of them. Was it proven Ford was negligent ? (This is not an endorsement of Owen-- Don't know enough about her, yet.)

Is money or life what is important? My father in law had collapsed lungs. As a veteran of WWII he supposedly had VA benefits. He did only to a certain extent. At first the Drs. wheeled him out into the hallway, then told his wife to take him home and make him as comfortable as possible. A city detective related to the man insisted they wheel him back in and save his life. They did and he survived another 5 yrs. During that time he had an oxygen bottle. The VA said, at last, "Do you know how expensive that oxygen is?" They put this man with virtually no lungs on a treadmill and then took away his oxygen. Of course we got him more at our own expense, but, after he had been more or less informed the money was more important than his right to breathe, he developed pneumonia right away and died. The system has got to be regulated to allow a person to live.

Another horrible VA story, and I believe every word of it.

'Money or life' is a little simplistic, to me. The VA story wasn't similar, in my opinion. The VA owed your FIL. There is a question whether or not Ford was responsible for the boy's injuries. My concern with the story about the poor child, is the justice of making Ford liable. It seems that some are of the feeling that the "big corporation should pay", whether or not they are justifiably wrong. Can they foot the extraordinary bills for everyone who dies in one of their vehicles? Certainly not.

Protecting business, to me, is a vitally important interest to this nation. 40 mil is alot of money for one accident. Business generates livelihoods for our citizens. Protect them in their neglegence? No. Throw all the financial responsibility to them, when our emotions side with injured people? No.

There doesn't seem to be an easy answer. People die. They suffer. Sometimes, no one is to blame.

The corporation was found liable by a jury.

Sophia: read the story again, Ford didn't appeal as a refutation of the facts of the decision *(On whether the seat belt failed ) they just wanted the damages reduced. The punitive damages were thrown out,( doubtless Ford was not reckless, etc.) but the 30 million was still due to the kid for his care. In a case like this, where the care of a victim is dependant on the payment of damages, justice ought to be swift. This was the kind of callous disregard for life that is unexpected from a pro-life jurist like Prissy Owen.


Here's what will happen next, it may have happened already I don't know, the parents (stepfather and mother) will file a wrongful death suit against Ford. Unless they have new evidence, it's likely that Ford will offer to settle for between 1 and 2 million, that sounds like a lot, but the parents have probably got a 1 million dollar bill from their law firm and it's likely they spent or borrowed a million just for the child's initial care. Ford's expenses are in the 3 to 4 million just to defend the case, but if the parents settle for 3 million that's still a 90 percent reduction of cost to Ford.
*(On whether the seat belt failed: it did according to the evidence. Both were wearing seat belts, the stepfather wasn't injured. The science of forensics has advanced in the past few years to be able to find all kinds of data from crashs. That's how they are solving the shuttle failure.
*

Yep, Joe.

I didn't know what Owen actually did to merit yet another negative campaign. I was trying to find her culpability. And, I went off for a sec on Ford. I was trying to process the entire scenario objectively. Before commenting further, I should go off into cyberspace and read a few differing retellings of the case against her.

I shall.

Sofia addressed me with:

"You have a right to your opinion, sc.
It far outranks the most hideous statements I've read in this community.
In my opinion.
I hope when you think of the reality of that statement, you think better of it. "


of course you're correct . . . I apologize . . . I shouldn't have shared my evil impulse . . . my bad . . .

<didn't feel you owed anyone an apology. was just hoping you didn't mean it... possibly, I should have kept my thought to myself...>

<hoping to shake self-imposed need to clarify everything soon>

, too.

Sofia, please don't "beat yourself up". I think it's great that with such give-and-take we can learn to understand each other and better communicate on A2K. Actually, I quite enjoyed the fact that you apparently turned out to be my conscience - very impressed indeed! :wink:

Yeah I agree with both of you, sweet and Sofe.

Don't second-guess and don't self-censure.

That's what the rest of are here for: to call you on your b.s.

Don't be afraid to be occasionally politically incorrect.

ok, real quick, impulse to say

I have a crush on PDiddie

There are threads for crushes, sweetie...

I gotta say you're my favorite, too, right now...

(...but then I've always liked Jewish girls...)

Oh, loosen up, PDiddie honey, almost no thread where I've posted thus far remains on-topic; now back to your appreciation of my ethnicity (ahem) . . . my appreciation of your mind is what got me; I mean, you're so intelligent and funny which are two of the best aphrodisiacs . . . :wink:

Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?... :wink:

Oh, it's definitely you that is the hottie.

I note you are a "seasoned" member - does that mean you're tasty? How so?

:wink:

Mr. PDiddie, get back here right now and tell me if you're tasty.

Oh, well, guess he's taking a cold shower; after all, if you can't stand the heat ... and all that :wink: ...