by MARINA BOLOTNIKOVA

3.22.16

Khiara Bridges Photograph courtesy of Khiara Bridges

“Using an example from case law, involving a Native American couple charged with negligent homicide of their baby, she asked her audience how race and level of education should bear on the outcome of the case. Should the impoverished couple, neither of whom had a high-school education, have known that the baby’s swollen tooth could create an infection and result in death? What if they didn’t have money to go to the doctor, or they had a reasonable fear, as Native Americans did at the time, that the state would take their baby away if they sought medical care? What are the costs and benefits of considering a defendant’s race and class? What does it mean to create a “reasonable person” standard in the law? Who defines “reasonable,” and what kinds of people might be excluded as a result?

Sourced through Scoop.it from: harvardmagazine.com