A teenager claims he was unfairly suspended from school for holding a knife to a girl's throat...He wants the court to lift his suspension, stop expulsion proceedings and award him more than $40,000! The boy claims to have a learning disability which the school did not detect.
"A Virginia special education teacher sues in federal court after being
penalized for repeatedly failing to achieve the minimum acceptable score on a
standardized test. The teacher claims that she was discriminated against
because she has a handicap that inflicts her with a slowness in understanding
written and spoken information."
Mike Tallon, Lexington High School, Lexington, Illinois
"Another man, who didn't inform the federal government of his mother's
death collected $33,000 in Social Security which was electronically deposited
to a joint account. He did plead guilty to this crime but blamed it on
'extreme procrastination behavior' brought on by his depression."
Kelly Herb, Conrad Weiser High School, Robesonia, Pennsylvania
"A Massachusetts firefighter was given notice his wife wanted a divorce. He
crept into her bedroom and beat her within an inch of her life. While she was
in the emergency room, he checked into a mental hospital. All charges were
dropped because he pled insanity. Several months later, he was caught again
sneaking into his ex-wife's home. The case was dismissed, but he was fired
from his job. Where is this "victim" now? He was reinstated to his job, he
collected $176,774 in back pay, and an additional $20,000 for emotional
stress. Now, is he the real victim or is it his ex-wife, who received nothing
but permanent injuries?"
Sara Tweed, Colby High School, Colby, Kansas
In March, 1994 the state of Montana outlawed the insanity defense, creating a precedent which can be used by other states.
"On the talk show 'Oprah', a young man had a problem with beating his wife
and children. He blamed his problem on his father, since his father had beat
him as well as his mother, when he was a child. The man said that it was
hereditary and there was nothing he could do about it. This man has absolutely
no excuse for not getting help and should be punished."
Kristin Chase, Phoenix, Oregon
"Under federal law, any person with a low income and a mental or physical
'disability' that keeps him from working, is entitled to SSI[Supplemental
Security Income]. In certain cases, addiction can be defined as a disability,
so some people hooked on drugs or alcohol are entitled to benefits."
Chris Myers, Pioneer High School, San Jose, California
"A woman being tried for murder escaped sentencing by testifying she had a
severe case of PMS (premenstrual syndrome).É In another example a man was
fired from his job because of his many tardies. He not only regained
employment from the company after suing, but also claimed he had the 'late
syndrome' and received compensation for being fired in the first place.ÉTo get
back on the right track as a kind and caring society, we need to stop
inventing new syndromes on which to blame our problems."
Mandy McCormack, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas
"Another example of irresponsibility is the case of Warren S. Graboyes, a
Philadelphia orthodontist. He was charged with fondling a teen-age girl who
was under his care for years. When the girl complained ... he claimed he had a
sexual disorder. This allowed him to get off with a revoked license, and four
years probation, and one month in a hospital therapy program for problems such
as his. After this, Graboyes claimed the insurance company owed him sixty
thousand dollars a year because his illness rendered him incapable. This is a
good example of how people become rich off infamous doings."
Jeff Hershberger, Eureka High School, Eureka, Illinois
"Last year a man applied as a transfer student to the University of
Illinois. Included in his application was an unusual request: he asked that
the university ignore his 'D' average, admit him, and allow him twice as much
time as the other students to write exams. Why? Because he had a learning
disability. When the college rejected his application, the man's mother sued,
demanding $500,000 for his pain and suffering. Her grounds? That the
university violated her son's rights as a disabled person. The Illinois State
Court ruled for the disabled man and his mother, but was his disability the
college's responsibility? The college was required at the time to allow all
persons equal opportunity. All persons must have the equal opportunity to
graduate from college in the same, fair way. The man's mother knew that the
college could not allow him special privileges, so why didn't she just drop it
and move on? She didn't drop it because she knew she could get a few quick
bucks from her son's ordeal."
Kristie Chaney, Plainview High School, Ardmore, Oklahoma
A dyslexic student sued a school for having multiple choice questions. The pleading stated that the school was negligent in not providing alternate testing to accommodate his handicap.
Should the punishment match the crime?
Is it relevant?
The April, 1994, issue of California Lawyer reported that 37 lawyers were disciplined by the State Bar. In the case of one practicing attorney, a "string of misdemeanors and criminal offenses occurring between 1985 and 1992É(were) issued (in) a 57-page decision, including a lengthy summation of (his) criminal convictions and psychiatric condition." The punishment meted out by the Bar for recent improprieties was a 30 day suspension and 7 years on probation. It was alleged that the attorney "suffered from severe bipolar depressive disorder." Justice was on Kristie McAdams' mind when she related the following story:
"My aunt's boyfriend was arrested for [child-molestation] É He spent no
time in jail and bonded out on a $2,500 bail. I would hope that the therapy he
is going through will help him because he received almost no punishment from
our legal system. I now realize why victims of sexual abuse become frustrated
with their abusers for not being sentenced with a fair judgment."
Kristie McAdams, Lubbock-Cooper High School, Lubbock, Texas
On the other hand Kara makes a poignant case for less harsh sentences:
"For example, a relative of mine was killed by means of electrocution after
being sentenced to death. The charge was murder in the first degree. The
government asserted that he had killed a furniture store owner in cold blood.
They failed to mention that the accused was retarded and had been sprayed in
the eyes with a can of mace."
Kara Mitchell, Lubbock-Cooper High School, Lubbock, Texas
Pam points to laws that allow wrong-doers to act with impunity:
"Until you are eighteen, you cannot be tried as an adult. ... This and the
Youthful Offender Act, that allows anyone up to the age of twenty-one to have
sealed records, are but two ways that teenagers can escape the responsibility
for their actions."
Pam Courtney ,Demopolis High School, Demopolis, Alabama
It is clear that the justice issue is a major concern for Kristie Chaney. Unfortunately, from the account she gave us in the portion of her essay reproduced below, it is difficult to draw a conclusion. Especially bothersome is her reference to 'other technicalities':
"There are endless cases in which the defendant accepted no
responsibility. In 1988, in Topeka, Kansas, a hospital worker was entering an emergency room parking lot when a patient driving over the designated speed limit hit and totaled the worker's car. The worker
and the patient both sued. The patient sued the hospital on the grounds that it negligently failed to maintain traffic control signals in the parking lot...and was awarded $100,000 for injuries and other
technicalities, while the defendant was only awarded $50,000 for injuries and was also required to pay a fine for not wearing a seatbelt. The patient used written laws to his benefit, while accepting no
responsibility for his actions. But what about the person who was most affected by the wrongdoing? His car was totaled, he was injured, and he did not receive a fair compensation for his suffering. Not one
bit of responsibility was taken by the offender."
Kristie Chaney, Plainview High School, Ardmore, Oklahoma
It seems Kristie would have us concede that the disparate awards are unjust. It is impossible to do so without knowing why the court ruled as it did. We included Kristie's excerpt to urge students, and other readers to always weigh passionate rhetoric against objective evidence.
The excerpt that follows shows that occasionally judges give in to their own personal feelings. The laudable desire to be helpful is often subjective. As Michael suggests below, this gives mixed messages, especially to young people:
"[A] judge by the name of Robert Schillberg released Leroy Kelley who is a convicted thief, violent offender, and rapist with a $1.00 fine which the good judge paid himself, after Kelley was caught stealing cigarettes from a grocery store. The judge said that the store was more at fault than poor Leroy [because the store] provided the cigarettes. The officer who arrested Kelley was obviously upset and felt that the judge's reasoning was unfair. This judge is sending a message to society that if you commit a crime against those who do legal but somewhat socially unacceptable things, you do not have to pay for it."
Michael Gammon, Eureka High School, Eureka, Illinois
Yo victims! These students are on to you!
"People claiming to be victims are taking our attention away from those who are real victims. Those who cry wolf are causing a detriment to us as
a society."
Michael Lantz, Valhalla High School, Valhalla, New York
"One of the greatest problems in American society is people who want to victimize themselves. They do this because they know that we will surely reward them or they will gain something."
Andrew R. Schertz, Eureka High School, Eureka, Illinois
"A generic example can be used to explain the lack of accountability that is becoming increasingly evident in our nation. Thirty years ago, if a crime was committed...a burglary for example...society was considered the victim. The case seems logical. Property, possibly irreplaceable, was taken and perhaps injuries were sustained. It would seem obvious that 'society' was the victim.
That was then, this is now. Today, views have become so twisted and skewed that the burglar can be considered victimized: by his underprivileged upbringing, by the school that did not teach him to read,
by the church that failed to reach him with moral guidance, by the parents who did not provide a stable home."
Mark Rossney, Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
"A family was dumping their wastes into the oceans, and the fish would swallow the plastics and such, killing them instantly. Their irresponsible actions caught on videotape, the family is now suing the owner of
the videotape for invasion of privacy."
Courtney Paniagua, Plainview High School, Ardmore, Oklahoma
Just to show that we are not addressing an exclusively American problem: A 12 year-old in Australia sued his principal. The student had admittedly vandalized school property and the principal notified his mother. The student sued because his feelings were hurt when his mother showed up at the school.
"In my neighborhood there is a woman who has received money from Social Security to return to college to earn a degree. So far this scenario sounds wonderful. However, this woman already held a job. She
had filed a claim that she could no longer maintain her job because she suffered from a weight problem. Then she was issued government money intended to put her through a local school of cosmetology. Instead
of relying on the government for help by claiming to be a victim, this woman should have been responsible enough to either lose the weight, find a different job, or put herself through college."
Michelle R. Gannon, Rock Hill Senior High School, Ironton, Ohio
"Why work when welfare is always available, and society or someone else is to blame for all of the mishaps that occur in one's life? We become a
society of endless excuses, where no one accepts responsibility for themselves."
Melissa Shepanski, Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
"Shifting of blame has been around since the time of Adam and Eve. Eve ate of the Tree of Good and Bad and later Adam joined her. When he was
being questioned by God, Adam blamed Eve, saying the woman made me do it. [Even if] this transferring of blame started with the imperfection that humans inherited, people can't blame mistakes on imperfection
and not try to overcome them."
Karen Gowin, Colby High School, Colby, Kansas
"Another example of someone not being held responsible for his own actions is the tragic story of Len Bias, whom I read about in a February issue of Commonwealth. He was an N.B.A. draft choice who died from a drug overdose. Sports writers blamed his death on childhood experiences. They failed to realize that Bias had a choice and he died of his own ignorance and stupidity rather than a childhood problem."
Karen Krumlauf, Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Oregon
"We live in a society of victims where a person's condition
is never their fault and whoever they blame for their problems is responsible for helping them."
Lisa Wharton, Marion High School, Marion, South Dakota
"Lately it seems as though the attitude of the general public is one that constantly wants to play the victim....This is illustrated perfectly
by Calvin of the 'Calvin and Hobbes' cartoon when he remarks to his father that nothing he does is his fault, as he is the 'helpless victim of countless bad influences', and that 'an unwholesome culture panders to his undeveloped values, pushing him to malefesance; he should therefore take no responsibility for his behavior.'... In this past decade and a half, we have come to expect others to take care of us; it's time we learned how to take care of ourselves. Enough of this society of victims! We are all
a victim of something or other, whether it's racism, bigotry, ageism, sizeism, a repressed childhood, or the asbestos industry. It's time to get on with it already."
Nicole A. Mellado, Carbondale High , Carbondale, Illinois
According to the American Bar Association Journal, April, 1994, second hand smoke now qualifies as assault and battery. First a Georgia Court and then an Ohio court ruled that blowing smoke in someone's face is an intentionally harmful or offensive contact that the subject would take negatively; a definition of assault and battery. A person may sue if the conduct alleged is battery, even if the damage sought is as low as one dollar.
The ABA Journal also discussed the possibility that "environmental illness" may not exist and concluded that whether it exists or not, alleged sufferers experience severe reactions to specific pollutants, often including chemically based perfumes. In order to accommodate the Americans With Disabilities Act, communities in Northern California are rewriting ordinances. The expense to taxpayers will accelerate when the ordinances are challenged and defended in the court room by the manufacturers of perfume and their customers.
"We cannot make ourselves into victims to escape responsibility, or we will never be able to stand on our own two feet, to be independent, to be free."
Kara Wayman, Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
"Violence is at an all-time high, and everyone is a victim of some complex, phobia, or syndrome. We have become a nation of blame, of excuses."
Amy Deehr, Freeman High School, Rockford, Washington
"No one wants to say, 'It's my fault. How can I help?' Instead, people
making ridiculous and sometimes dangerous mistakes, point their fingers and scream, 'Help me! I'm a victim!' The American society has become lazy. No one takes pride in a job well done. Instead they mooch off of everyone else's mistakes, and even find a way to earn a little extra from their own by blaming anyone but themselves. America has become a 'take what you can get and run' society of leeches. ...People gripe that the wrong person got voted in and that the laws passed are no good; how many people have
taken the time to write Congress or the president when a bill they don't like is being debated? My guess is not many. I would be willing to bet even fewer write to say they agree with a certain bill. When
people start taking an active part in their government, then it will be what they want. Until then, they need to shut their mouths and learn to live with the government they are allowing to exist."
Heather Stearns, Carbondale High School, Carbondale, Illinois
"What could be more pleasing than a society where nothing is wrong? That is the society we are developing. What was once considered wrong,
now can be considered a mental problem or something you can not help because your parents weren't there for you. It is a pleasing idea, and that is why America is adopting it so rapidly. For a society not
to blame individuals personally, it must accept everyone's personal definition of morals. If everyone has their own definition, then there are no morals, and if there are no morals then people can not live
in peace."
Tom Moore, Niantic High School, Niantic, Illinois
Young people are critical, but they are also proposing solutions:
"I suggest that we take responsibility for our own actions
and don't try to push them on other people. If it's our fault, we need to take the blame and move on with our lives. Life is too short to waste! "
Tammy Johnson, Froid High School, Froid, Montana
"In our society there are many responsible individuals. However, there are also many who avoid taking responsibility. This problem has been created because, as children, people are educated with differing ideas of what responsibility is. Some children are raised in an environment that teaches them to take responsibility for their actions, but others grow up in an environment that teaches them to pass the responsibility
on to someone else. They are brought up to believe that the world is against them. They are poor because no one wants them to succeed. They live in slums because they are from the wrong country. And they are
in jail because nobody wants to help them. All through life, they act irresponsibly because of the ideas they are raised to believe. The solution to this problem may seem to be impossible, but it only seems
that way because that is what we are brought up to believe."
Jerry Schreck, Eureka High School, Eureka, Illinois
Neal has a definite suggestion:
"One way of stopping these lawsuits that cost the taxpayers millions of dollars each year is to make people realize they have responsibilities.
If someone is under the influence of alcohol or drugs while an accident occurs, he should be made to take treatment and no money [should be] awarded to that person."
Neal Bobzin, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
Tate Kauffman laments "the vast amounts of time and money wasted" on frivolous lawsuits. His prescription follows:
"The legal system will have to play a great role in reversing this, 'There must be someone else I can blame', trend. A person who
has been truly wronged has every right to sue. A person who is merely looking for someone to take the blame has just as much right to sue; however, if judges and juries begin cracking down on the plaintiffs
in these ridiculous cases, they will soon lose the desire to do so. ... Lawyers could help by following their hearts more and their wallets less. Ultimately, however, this is a problem that can only be solved
when each individual person decides to accept responsibility for his or her own actions."
Tate Kauffman, Big Spring High School, Newville, Pennsylvania
Other solutions are more concrete:
"People can lobby for limits on amounts of damages courts can award. They can pressure government to cut down on the loopholes in the law which allow people to blame vague 'others', such as society, for their actions."
Mike Godfrey, Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Oregon
"Many people find it easy to fake injuries. Some people even self-inflict themselves with minor injuries so they can collect insurance.
[A] way to prevent this is to quit handing out settlements for more than the victim's costs."
Andrew R. Schertz, Eureka High School, Eureka, Illinois
The students whose excerpts are reproduced below are also incensed about fraudulent claims and frivolous lawsuits. Some of them have solutions:
"There should be a higher risk in making fraudulent claims. The nation has gone crazy with suing. Our nation needs stricter penalties for bringing false cases before a judge, like in England. Lawyers are in great
demand due to this new craze. The lawyers should be held partially accountable for the cases that they agree to take. If they know that their client has no real claim it should be strongly recommended not to take the case."
Michele Paulick, Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
"Consequences for irresponsible behavior need to be more strict. If a person does not suffer any consequences for their irresponsible actions then they will not care if they act that way again."
Brian Toon, Lexington High School, Lexington, Illinois
"There has to be a way to fix all this loss of responsibility. My suggestion would be to do away with frivolous lawsuits. The only way to do this would be to make the one who files pay for all costs if he/she loses."
Rose Nieto, Falls City High School, Falls City, Texas
Jennifer cautions us not to become overzealous:
"Even though many times people don't have the right to sue, there are cases when people have every right. Sometimes victims deserve money for their losses or for the bills endured."
Jennifer Hauschel, Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas
Kristie wonders whatever happened to the constitutional right to make contracts? She discovered that courts now often rewrite rather than enforce contracts:
"In 1990, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a woman was treated in a dental clinic. Following the removal of a tooth, her jaw was fractured. She had previously signed a form waiving her right to sue for negligence.
The court held the form as invalid and stated that health care professionals cannot avoid liability for their actions by forcing patients to sign releases before treatment. The woman was immediately awarded
$75,000 for injury and pain. ...She had signed the release form that stated that the doctors (assumed) no liability. Even if it wasn't legally valid, she had signed it, announcing her trust in the doctors. She took no responsibility for what very well could have been her own fault."
Kristie Chaney, Plainview High School, Ardmore, Oklahoma
"Her own fault"? Unless the fractured jaw occurred months later and during a fight or in an accident, Kristie's hypothesis is hard to imagine. However, we do get her point and because of space limitations can only suggest that Kristie and other curious readers look into the evolution of tort law during the second half of the twentieth century. The students below who wrote about emotional distress might be surprised to know there was no cause of action for emotional distress a relatively short time ago. Stress is a modern tort. [Contact the Foundation if you need help with research in this area.]
Stress--A Real Cash Cow
"In Los Angeles, at least three police officers who witnessed the notorious videotaped beating of a black motorist have filed for worker's compensation, claiming that they suffered anxiety and stress."
Kim Mandragona, Valhalla High School, Valhalla, New York
"(Donna Roberts) charged that a veterinarian severely injured her pet iguana in 1989. She sued for one-million in damages, contending that the animal suffered a broken back and that she endured emotional stress."
Bridget Robertson, Broken Arrow High School, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
"A Wyoming man sued an adult video company because they failed to
live up to their advertisements. He sought over $50,000, including the cost of the video, medical expenses covering the asthma attack he suffered as a result of the 'stress of being ripped off', and compensation
for suffering."
Sara Tweed, Colby High School, Colby, Kansas
"For example, in Connecticut recently, a woman shot her fiancŽe because he canceled their wedding, and a court found her innocent of murder because of insanity due to emotional shock."
Kevin Speicher, Conrad Weiser High School, Robesonia, Pennsylvania