It is a tragedy when our own negligence leads to something more horrible then we could ever imagine. But we must also take responsibility when it is our own negligence.

I think the question Weingarten was asking was, how much punishment is enough? What was so excruciating about the article was how much these people were hurting, and continued to hurt. They did take responsibility. I can't figure out how to say this without it sounding a cliche, but they'll live with this for the rest of their lives. I guess it's easier for me to imagine forgetting a child in a back seat for eight hours than imagining a parent or other adult relative (grandparents have done this too) who was simply able to shrug it off as a mistake. The people in this article weren't the sort who were routinely negligent with their children or even seemed to entertain the possibility of conscious negligence.

Sure, you could put them in jail for involuntary manslaughter, but what good would that do, other than to satisfy some abstract notion of vengeance and justice? It's not as if they deliberately left their children to die of heat exhaustion, so it wouldn't serve as a deterrent. And you would simply be punishing the spouse and the other children in the family by taking that parent away for a long period of time. It would likely cause more damage than it would prevent. They're not getting away with murder.

I suppose you could argue that there are people like the woman in the article I linked in my earlier comment who are cruel and have no conscience. But that sort of information would likely come out at a hearing or trial.

Many people live with the weight of guilt for their failures, it doesn't preclude them from just punishment by a jury of their peers.

And I suspect that a jury of their peers, in this case, would be horrified and filled with dread and wouldn't convict them of anything.

See, this is the thing. Technically, you're right. However, after ruling out deliberate intent, the whole idea of sending someone to prison for inadvertently leaving a child to bake to death is absurd. I'll bet a lot of these people WOULD go to jail for six months, a year, three years, ten years, whatever...if only it would bring back the baby.

Sure, their negligence should be an example. And it is. That horrible moment of realization and/or discovery is a far more effective deterrent to this kind of future negligence on the part of others than a prison sentence could ever be.

More valuable are the comments here that not only confess fears of exactly this outcome but offer practical suggestions for ensuring it doesn't.

First she goes on a talk show (apparently without her mother's knowledge or permission) and says she doesn't think abstinence will work. Now this. Sounds to me like Bristol Palin is pretty much done with being the dutiful daughter to the Wicked Witch of the Northwest.

Lots of luck to her in the coming years. She'll need it, but she deserves it.

Look, a wedding is not a grand public gesture, or a mini-Broadway show. It's a PARTY for the couple's nearest and dearest. And as such, it is, indeed, private. Politics should intrude as little as possible on such affairs...and only as they apply to the guests (e.g., you have gay or lesbian relatives or friends in committed relationships? Treat them as you would your married relatives or friends.)

Seems like women can't win, no matter what they do. Oh, and of course the "dick's rights" crowd had to show up here to add their crucial (not) $0.02.

Can we please please please stop sniping at each other and the personal essay writers? This was charming and bittersweet, especially the paragraph about how the same job listings keep showing up day after day.

And writing is a profession. Writing novels probably isn't, unless you write formula romances, but some of us work pretty hard using our craft for the benefit of others, doing PR, technical, and science writing, for instance. I'd like to be able to do that again full-time in some capacity. It's what I'm best at--making difficult scientific and technological concepts understandable and helping smart researchers promote themselves and get visibility and funding.

See, this is exactly where They want us. If we're picking each other apart for our petty little imperfections (and I couldn't IMAGINE being forced to live with my inlaws and being a good sport about it) then we're not focusing our wrath on the real culprits. So, Laurel et al, please, please get a grip, for your own sanity and the good of the nation. There are certain behaviors, attitudes, and ways of life that just have me biting my tongue until it bleeds, but I have to ask myself: are these people harming the economy or the environment? Are they harming the fabric of society more than the subprime lenders ever did? No? OK, then, they get a pass. For now. We have bigger fish to fry. Focus all that righteous rage where it belongs and try to be a little kinder.