Recklessness and mindlessness go hand-in-hand, though.
I’d like to present a hypothetical situation:
Let’s imagine, that like most people, I have a thousand things I need to do on what is a particularly stressful day— so I get in my car and as I begin to drive, my mind is on all the things I’ve got going on in my life.... let’s say, I’ve got to get to the pharmacy to get the Rx for my puking kid; and I have to go to the bank to make a deposit so the mortgage payment clears; plus I’m thinking about the parent-teacher conference that I’ve got to reschedule because a schedule change at work means I can’t keep the appointment I set up 2 weeks ago; then, as I clench my teeth, I realize that I’ve got a loose crown, so now I’ve got to remember to call the dentist; and that sets my mind reeling because I know that when our new benefit year starts next week, I’m gonna be paying even more out-of-pocket costs and how are we gonna afford that, and then I think, well, maybe I can refill my own ‘scripts a couple days early and hopefully have the lower copay one last time; and—and—and ....
So as my brain is on overload as I drive, I mindlessly fail to slow down in a school zone, and hit a child in the crosswalk, who then dies.....
In my scenario, it seems clear that I was a negligent & reckless driver, and of course, I established that was acting mindlessly. But, I had no intent to kill anyone.... I didn’t purposely get in my car with a plan to mow down the first pedestrian I could find. There was no malice aforethought, as it were. Everything I was trying to accomplish at that moment centered around being the best wife-mother-caregiver I could be for my family— coping with all the stresses that get piled on us all at some time or another— And then.... <snaps fingers> I killed a child.... in my mindlessness!
You can bet your sweet patootie that I would be arrested and charged with something... whether that be negligent homicide, vehicular manslaughter, reckless homicide, involuntary manslaughter, or another similar crime. And I don’t think I should expect a judge or jury to care one iota about all the stuff going on in my life that I was juggling at the time of the “accident”. In what world would anyone believe that a reasonable consequence for such mindless actions would be having my driver’s license revoked, my car taken away, and/or be publicly lectured on the importance of paying attention in high-risk situations.
{Personally, I’d never be able to get behind the wheel of a car ever again, even if somehow I were deemed not to be at fault. And I surely wouldn’t be out car shopping (i.e. interviewing for/ taking a new job).... }
I truly don’t understand how someone can argue that negligence/ recklessness and criminality are mutually exclusive.
If an electrician negligently wires an outlet in such a way that someone plugging in their hairdryer ends up being electrocuted........or if a contractor fails to check the quality of building materials being used in construction and the structure later collapses and kills someone.........or if an exterminator doesn’t pay attention to where they’re spraying the insecticide and accidentally sprays it in a baby’s crib or play area, poisoning them........
In situations like those I list above, the person responsible for the error/ oversight/ negligence has been prosecuted for some form of manslaughter. There is precedent.
So then, when a nurse fails to administer a medication properly in accordance with established and accepted protocols and the patient dies as a result ... shouldn’t there be an expectation of being held to account for the death that was preventable by adherence to simple procedures and checks rather than going about in a “mindless rush” giving drugs which she claims to have been unfamiliar with?
When you undertake to do a job that requires you to be focused on the task at hand— no matter what that “job” is.... nurse, doctor, electrician, driver, whatever— the onus is on you to: #1, know what you are doing and #2 take the necessary steps to insure that you do that job properly and safely. If you choose— through mindlessness— to do the job in an unfocused and unsafe manner, then you have to accept that there are consequences for that. Where someone is harmed or killed as a result of mindlessness or negligence in your actions, I think it’s reasonable for a prosecutor to review the case and potentially bring criminal charges.
So then, going back to my hypothetical scenario— a driver who unitentinally speeds through a school zone that they failed to notice while in a “mindless rush” to attend to the “impossible workload” they find themselves saddled with that day, and as a result runs over someone and kills them (doesn’t even have to be a child, let’s say it’s the crossing guard)..... by your thought process the driver wouldn’t face any criminal charges because there was no malice????
What, then, should the consequence be?? A speeding ticket? or maybe one for failure to yield to a pedestrian? How about a suspended license? :
You must realize that not all criminals are malicious.....
