A real story.

[lawtonfogle]

Let's say you have a pool. You put up a fence around it, nice tall 8 foot one. Year later, you go on vacation. You return to find that a group of teenagers (legally able to drive here) jumped the fence and went swimming and one drowned (bumped his head, no foul play). A long court battle later your selling all you own to pay the family for damages and what ever else the lawyer named it.

While I say you, I remember hearing a case about this exact thing (over five years ago though). Same outcome (I do believe the family even had to sell the house and land they owned)?

So, now comes the questions (to the extent of my knowledge the rest is hypothetical). Is this fair, moral, or ethical? Should it be legal? If the kids of the family turn to thieving (hey, they lost everything they had, they probably wanting to get their stuff back), is it wrong for them to steal from the society who they think stole from them? Basically, it goes like this. Society (or those representing society) took everything they had, as such, they want to get it back from society. If you don't think they should have lost everything, then you are thinking that society stole some amount from them (anyone can offer a different idea here, but I think it would be one or the other), so really when they go out and steal, they are just taking their stuff back.

What if because of this, they are unable to foot the medical bills and in the end someone (say the mom) dies from lacks of meds needed to stop a simple condition. They then go out and kill who ever was responsible for the lawsuit going though. Is this cold blooded murder, or is it them carrying out the justice which society would not dispense.

Anyways, I do wish I knew what happened to the family.

And always remember, if someone is breaking into your house armed and you shoot them, make sure you stand in the same place and unload the the rest of the mag into them so they are surely dead. Dead criminals can't sue, and the family won't have any grounds to sue in his/her place since s/he was breaking into your house armed.

 

[jayem]

Don't the homeowners have liability insurance? They're begging for trouble if they don't.

Anyway, I'd think an 8 foot fence around your pool, assuming it is in good repair, would be adequate protection from any claim by a trespasser who is injured on your property. But, even so, your insuror will pay for your legal defense and any award or settlement. Assuming you have insurance.

And no, your financial difficulty, even if not your own fault, doesn't make it acceptable to steal. Or to kill whoever you blame for your problems. What earthly good would that do? You should sue the perpetrator yourself. File a counterclaim. Tie them up in legal proceedings for years. Maybe you can get a settlement to recover your losses.

 

[wanderingone]

It completely depends on the situation. I believe if the fencing meets the local requirements and the homeowners have never given one of those "come use the pool anytime" type messages to the kids involved it's not appropriate for the homeowners to be held responsible for the injuries.

I agree with Jayem though.. if they didn't have appropriate liability insurance - especially with a pool they're nuts.

Just because someone steals from you doesn't mean you have the right to steal back.

 

[HairyToe]

it's called natural selection, don't sweat it, just go work on your abs