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Now that my
oldest child is
out in the
working world
beyond my
protection, I
worry even more
about what might
happen if he
suffers a hard
life blow such
as a serious
accident. Also,
thinking like I
do, I wonder
what my remedies
are if someone,
through
carelessness or
intent, causes
bodily harm to
this young man I
love.
It’s interesting
to me that the
Bible has strong
rules about
personal injury
that we as a
society really
don’t look to as
a standard.
Take Chapter 21,
verse 12 of the
Book of Exodus,
which
proclaims:
“Whoever strikes
a man a mortal
blow must be put
to
death.” Simple
and
straightforward,
don’t you
think? The
penalty is fixed
no matter if the
killing resulted
from an
accident, some
simple
negligence or
with malice
aforethought. Harsh,
huh?
So, I got to
thinking about
how California
measures up to
that old
Biblical
standard. Seems
there should be
some clamor to
tighten our
standards,
seeing as how
there is a fair
amount of the
population
who still
haven’t forgiven
Charles Darwin
for drawing
conclusions
about how
evolution works.
Actually,
though, as a
society, we go
completely the
other way from
the Bible’s
strong message
about the value
of human life.
Oh sure,
murder, is still
punished
criminally, or
at least it’s
supposed to. On
the other hand,
our civil
justice system
often seems
value human life
at less than the
cost of a luxury
sedan or a new
Ferrari. How
can that be?
Take my son, for
example. If he
is killed on the
job as the
result of a
workplace
injury, his life
is worth a
$5,000 burial
expense and
that’s pretty
much it, since
he has no
dependents. If
a doctor kills
him through
malpractice,
then the cap is
$250,000 plus
whatever
expenses he
might have
incurred in
dying, such as
medical bills,
etc.
A jury of his
peers, on the
other hand,
might value his
life as high as
the 9/11 panels
did in New York
where the
families of
terror victims
were compensated
by the
government for
their loss.
Those values
always fell in
the
multi-millions.
That was the
Bush
administration
too, not a bunch
of wild-eyed
liberals. The
problem is, as a
society, we are
letting juries
decide these
questions less
and less,
because we don’t
trust common
people to make
decisions about
value. I don’t
know about you,
but I’d rather
trust my
neighbors to
decide how much
my son’s life is
worth than some
single stranger
who doesn’t know
me, my life or
my community.
Yet, that is the
way we’re
drifting, my
friends.
At the end of
the day, there
is no way to
equate money
with loss of
human life.
Maybe that’s why
the old
testament is so
rigid in it’s
approach.
Still, if we are
trying to give
justice to
families who
have lost a
loved one
because of
someone else’s
negligence and
the only remedy
we have is to
award money
damages, don’t
you think
justice demands
that the value
be fair?
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