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New York Judge Rules 6-Year-Old Can Be Sued
suraj.sun sends this snippet from Reuters:
"A girl can be sued over accusations she ran over an elderly woman with her training bicycle when she was 4 years old, a New York Supreme Court justice has ruled. The ruling by King's County Supreme Court Justice Paul Wooten stems from an incident in April 2009 when Juliet Breitman and Jacob Kohn, both aged four, struck an 87-year-old pedestrian, Claire Menagh, with their training bikes. Menagh underwent surgery for a fractured hip and died three months later. In a ruling made public late Thursday, the judge dismissed arguments by Breitman's lawyer that the case should be dismissed because of her young age. He ruled that she is old enough to be sued and the case can proceed."
Okay, a pair of four year olds on their bikes. Accidentally hit an old lady.
And they're going to sue the four year olds?
Okay guys. It really IS time to kill all the lawyers.
*Grabs a gun*
What if it wasn't accidental? That will be determined. I too hate the litigious nature of folks now days, but sometimes it may be the only way to have others take responsibility for themselves.
To quote the judge, and I agree with it.
"A parent's presence alone does not give a reasonable child carte blanche to engage in risky behavior such as running across a street," Wooten wrote. He added that "the term 'supervising' is too vague to hold meaning here."
There are no loopholes. It's either legal or it's not.
So as long as I only murder sufficiently old people, I really shouldn't be held accountable by the legal system?
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
It doesn't really matter whether or not it was accidental; people still have responsibility for their actions. To use he inevitable car analogy, if I cause an accident in my car I don't get to just shrug my shoulders and say, "well shit, it was just an accident. Why should I pay for the damage?"
It is only a problem because the US does not have a modern health care system like most of the modern world.
Tomorrow is another day...
Hi, my name is Chris Hanson. Why don't you have a seat over there.
Also - just because there is an injury, doesn't mean someone else is liable. If she had been knocked over and injured by a gust of wind - would they sue the weather man?
If I throw a rock through your window, would you feel that I shouldn't be liable because a bird could have flown into your window and broke it?
Sucks to be you. Perhaps you should try having some of that evil socialised healthcare so you don't have to stoop so low as to sue children for accidents.
you bad man, I dawnna det my dun and shoot you, and den my daddy dawnna beat up yaw daddy taws my bigga den yaw daddy!
Don't you too me, uh-oh, I went sissy aw ovah my lawyers office.
I killed da wabbit -Elmer Fudd