Legal System Disparity

A couple of recent articles (article1 article 2) got me thinking about the disparity in the legal system in the way it deals with drownings. Let me point out that I an not an attorney by any means. I do consider myself a avid researcher of current events in the aquatics industry. I have read through hundreds of drowning articles and I have noticed some disturbing trends in the way the law views these "accidents." Accidental drownings are not handled the same as some other accidents.

For instance in most accidental deaths that involve guns there is almost always criminal charges filed. Often negligence is one of them. Here is one such article. The incident was ruled an accident and yet there will be charges filed.

Yet in many accidental drownings no charges are ever filed.

To further add to the debate here is an article where a mom left her kids at a pool alone. She is facing charges. However, if she had stayed at the pool and hid behind a magazine for a few hours (we have all seen this) she most likely would not have had faced any charges and yet the result would undoubtedly be the same. Here is another similar case (albeit in a bathtub) where a child was left alone and drown. The mom is facing criminal charges.

So is the message that unless you abandonyour child you are free to do whatever you want while your child is at the local pool?

Why does there seem to be such a double standard in the legal system? Drownings are preventable and yet the law does not seem to find these tragedies as a result of blatant negligence.

When was the last time you read an article on accidental drowning that occurred in the arms of their parent?

I think that if more cases were prosecuted, that parents may take watching their kids more seriously. When did the safety of a child stop being the parents responsibility?

Drownings are preventable. Holding parents accountable would go a long way towards zero drownings.