more american loonacy

northernneil

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11657376

"The judge disagreed, ruling Juliet's lawyer had presented no evidence she lacked intelligence or maturity."

she's a four year old ....

Frank the tank

northernneil wrote:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11657376

"The judge disagreed, ruling Juliet's lawyer had presented no evidence she lacked intelligence or maturity."

she's a four year old ....

I can think of at least one person in that courtroom who lacks intellegence if not "common sense". :roll:

Bonkers.

Weejie54

If in England the child cannot be prosecuted until the age of 10 then why on Earth in America is it the age of 4?

Get things in perspective. I do not agree with the judge's decision, but this concerns a private action (a lawsuit), not criminal responsibility (prosecution). In the US, the age of criminal responsibility varies from state to state. If there is no fixed age, then under common law it is 7. The age under federal law is 10. There has been a concerted effort to raise the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales to bring it in line with Scotland (12). In some other countries ( some Scandinavian countries, for example) it is higher than that.
Note also that this decision concerns the state of New York - not "America". The age of criminal responsibility in New York is, I believe, 13.
You can sue a child for negligence through the parents in England. I would imagine that the same kind of questions would arise that came up in the New York court.
The question here was whether a child (here closer to 5 than 4) was old enough to be able to understand that it was dangerous to race a bike towards an old lady, not whether it was a criminal offence.
This story could have been given quite a different slant with creative journalism.

brin

Without knowing the full facts, i find it puzzling that the injury ' a broken hip ' could be attributed to her unfortunate death some 3 months later? Still, it is a silly ruling, hope the ambulance chasers this side of the pond don't read it.

OffTheBackAdam

brin wrote:

Without knowing the full facts, i find it puzzling that the injury ' a broken hip ' could be attributed to her unfortunate death some 3 months later?

Very easily, immobility leading to pneumonia & death.
In the UK, one year mortality after fractured neck of femur is 20-35%.