JACK
“Chris and my mother lived together briefly. I was about 4 years
old. I remember him being nice and fun. He built me a racetrack
for my toy cars and he taught me how to ride my bike without
training wheels! My mother passed away a couple of years ago
but she always said that the crap they said about him was not
true and that someone should help him!”

HANNAH
“I was 4 and 5 when he was around my family. He always
brought us pizza and took us to the store. I remember he
sprayed my mom’s house for roaches and then took us all to
the park while the house aired out. He was always nice to me,
my sister, and my mom. I hope he gets a fair trial.”

I agree that tragedies like this happen every day. He may not have been a bad person, but he made a very bad decision. And while these things can happen in any type of household, I’m sure the likelihood is greater in poverty-stricken areas.

How would I fix it? I would liberalize the entire economy and allow people to exercise their freedom to start businesses, engage in trade, etc. I think it’s abhorrent that so many people face bureaucratic hurdles that deter them from cutting hair, fixing sinks, driving taxis, and other things, simply because those industries snuggled up with the government to increase the barriers of entry. The federal government has done such a huge disservice to our poor by putting these obstacles in place and creating generations of dependency.

reason.tv has a great video along these lines called Slumdog Thousandaires.

Unfortunately, I think we’re headed in the opposite direction under the Obama administration. Absent a “game changer” (gosh, I hate that phrase), I see poverty in America only becoming a bigger problem.

Eh, how depressing.

‘Leaving a 23-month old in a bathtub is simply inexcusable behavior.’

Generally speaking, most pediatric drownings are looked at with a high index of suspicion. The easiest way to kill a kid is to toss them in a pool or leave them in a bathtub. You’re right, this is very bad. And deserves to be investigated.

But, poverty is usually about poor choices and raising kids in poverty offers lots of opportunities for making poor choices. I’d never consider driving around town with my (if I had one) 2 year old daughter in my lap (baby air-bag!), yet it happens all the time. Usually, there’s no negative consequences.

There’s no telling what else was going on in his world that night, but his poor decision caught up to him. I guarantee you it’s happening all over poverty America right now, too. How do you fix this?

I’m not ready to critique Mr. Duncan’s parenting skills. This guy was in her life, taking care of her, and he grieved when she died. It sounds like he was doing his best.

I’m as outraged as anyone about what West and Hayne did here. But Duncan’s parenting skills certainly can be critiqued. Leaving a 23-month old in a bathtub is simply inexcusable behavior. The negligent homicide or criminal inaction leading to another person’s death charges were probably appropriate here.

I don’t mean to split hairs. I’m generally on your side here, and I wholeheartedly agree with this point:

The prosecution, on the other hand, intentionally harmed this man.

My hope is that West and Hayne will be convicted of any crimes they committed, especially those that led to the death of innocent men. And if so, I will have no problem sleeping at night with the knowledge that their rectums are being lacerated on a daily basis.

“They desecrated the entire criminal justice system here. It must be redeemed.”

LOL. You’re kidding right? This is what the system does. These two are just two low on the totem pole “experts” for sale. This is happening EVERYWHERE in this country, just not as brazen and not yet revealed. This IS THE criminal “justice” system.

Hayne and West are just guns for hire, shills. They system is the problem.

The prosecution, on the other hand, intentionally harmed this man. This is not a Mississippi thing- it’s across the system. Mississippi just happens to be one of the more careless and arrogant places we’re finding out about.

We need to remember the point here is not Duncan (not to say he has not been wronged) but it’s Hayne and West. This conduct is criminal and it casts doubts on every other case they were ever involved in. Many of those cases – even in ones in which they cheated and lied – surely must have caught the “right” guy but that is not the point. They desecrated the entire criminal justice system here. It must be redeemed.

That doesn’t sound good. Might want to rewrite that, unless he admitted he was with the gal when she died. If he was with her, that still doesn’t look good.

It’s a fact that they were alone together, I believe. He was taking care of her and put her in the bath, then went to do other things, and he came back and she had drowned. That’s apparently what the evidence said before Dr. West stepped in (since he was originally charged with negligent homicide instead of capital murder).

He was stupid, and negligent, and deserved the charge of negligent homicide, and likely should never be taking care of children. But it’s a huge step from that to manufacturing evidence for a capital murder conviction.

That doesn’t sound good. Might want to rewrite that, unless he admitted he was with the gal when she died. If he was with her, that still doesn’t look good.

I would guess either a) Ooops! I forgot it was running or b) pure hubris. The deep seated belief that they are doing what the state wants (which they were) and that they would never be prosecuted for it (which they probably wont).

Oh, and Hayne & West taped the video. Apparently, it was common practice.