I'm not removing responsibility from LeBlanc for his "wrongful death". I'm not arguing that he shouldn't be held responsible for that. But I do think that the mother is not looking for justice, she's looking for revenge. LeBlanc has already admitted his responsibility in the act and was so remorseful about it that he took his own life, which is possibly more harsh than the sentence he would have received had he lived through the trial.
When the race car driver died during a race, everyone rose up in anger, trying to blame anything and anyone, wanting his wife to sue ever manufacturer of every piece of his car to demand "justice" for his death.
His wife said (paraphrasing) "He died doing what he loved. He knew the risks when he raced, this was a possible consequence of choosing this activity" and refused to sue anyone. I think this is much more reasonable. Excley's mother wants to continue punishing LeBlanc even though he's dead and can't possibly be affected by her punishment.
Again, I am hesitant to really pick sides in this particular case because there are a lot of things we don't know. So I'm speaking in general when I say that we all take risks.
I am not in favor of most of the "wrongful death" suits that take place. Sometimes shit just happens. When a guy gets into a car accident because he is driving fairly reasonably but the ice on the road just causes the car to go over the cliff, killing them both, I don't think the passenger's family has the right to sue the driver's estate. When the driver intentionally jumps the divide and starts playing chicken with an oncoming semi-truck, that's clearly reckless driving.
In this case, we do not know for sure if LeBlanc jumped the divide and was reckless or if this was an honest accident that happens during consensual high-risk behaviour. We especially don't know because of the nature of sensationalist reporting and the probability of the reporter not understanding BDSM and therefore not getting some of the details or imbuing personal bias into the reporting.
There was also the case of the teenager who died by getting hit with a baseball during a game or practice, I forget which. He had an unknown medical condition that getting hit with the baseball triggered and caused his death. The pitcher of that ball should not be sued because getting hit with a baseball is a possible consequence of playing the game. It's tragic the kid died, but it's not "wrongful death" or "reckless driving" of the pitcher and I'm pretty sure that pitcher is capable of punishing himself emotionally far better than any lawsuit could.
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Re: It is tricky
Date: 4/26/08 03:18 pm (UTC)From:When the race car driver died during a race, everyone rose up in anger, trying to blame anything and anyone, wanting his wife to sue ever manufacturer of every piece of his car to demand "justice" for his death.
His wife said (paraphrasing) "He died doing what he loved. He knew the risks when he raced, this was a possible consequence of choosing this activity" and refused to sue anyone. I think this is much more reasonable. Excley's mother wants to continue punishing LeBlanc even though he's dead and can't possibly be affected by her punishment.
Again, I am hesitant to really pick sides in this particular case because there are a lot of things we don't know. So I'm speaking in general when I say that we all take risks.
I am not in favor of most of the "wrongful death" suits that take place. Sometimes shit just happens. When a guy gets into a car accident because he is driving fairly reasonably but the ice on the road just causes the car to go over the cliff, killing them both, I don't think the passenger's family has the right to sue the driver's estate. When the driver intentionally jumps the divide and starts playing chicken with an oncoming semi-truck, that's clearly reckless driving.
In this case, we do not know for sure if LeBlanc jumped the divide and was reckless or if this was an honest accident that happens during consensual high-risk behaviour. We especially don't know because of the nature of sensationalist reporting and the probability of the reporter not understanding BDSM and therefore not getting some of the details or imbuing personal bias into the reporting.
There was also the case of the teenager who died by getting hit with a baseball during a game or practice, I forget which. He had an unknown medical condition that getting hit with the baseball triggered and caused his death. The pitcher of that ball should not be sued because getting hit with a baseball is a possible consequence of playing the game. It's tragic the kid died, but it's not "wrongful death" or "reckless driving" of the pitcher and I'm pretty sure that pitcher is capable of punishing himself emotionally far better than any lawsuit could.