Child Protection Finale -- New York

Several days ago I discussed a horrifying family case in New Jersey.

As you may recall, a man battered his four-month-old child so badly that the boy is blind, brain-damaged and in need of 24-hour care for the rest of his life.  New Jersey's child protective agency was found to have failed to protect the child, and a jury awarded more than $100 million dollars to take care of the child and to punish the agency.  If the boy does not live long, what remains of the jury award presumably will revert to his nearest relative, his mother, who also failed to protect him.  She will become quite wealthy.  The father is serving six years in prison.

The NY Times reported on Saturday the outcome of another, similar situation.  In that case, a woman's live-in boyfriend had shaken her crying 21-month old daughter and smashed her head against her crib, leaving her injured and unconscious. The mother waited almost 12 hours before calling 911.  The girl died.  Like the father in the New Jersey case, this boyfriend had a known violent history; he had served time in prison for beating another child.

In this case, too, the the state agency was found to have acted with "reckless disregard for the safety" of the child.  The jury also found that the mother did not cooperate with the agency when help was offered.  She lied to the agency about her boyfriend and denied that she was living with him.

As in New Jersey, the family sued, but this time the jury refused to assess damages.  New York law allows awards for pain and suffering but not death.  The jury found that the child had not suffered in the period between the time she was injured and died.   It is a small mercy if she did not.

The boyfriend who killed the child is serving 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter.  The mother also served two years for manslaughter.  It is remarkable to me that she would sue even a deficient, negligent state agency for money when her own behavior contributed so greatly to the death of her daughter.

There is a visceral, near feral drive that parents feel to protect their children. I always assumed it was evolutionary and universal.  As abominably as the state agencies behaved in both these cases, I find the mothers' behavior even more shocking.

This is getting to be too much for me.  I'll leave the topic alone for a while.

Traveling tomorrow, will try to think of something fun.