In 2017, the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs experienced the worst shooting in a place of worship in history and the most devastating shooting in Texas’ history. Devin Kelly, a former member of the Air Force killed 26 people and left 22 injured before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In 2012, Kelly was court martialed on two counts of assault on his wife and stepson. He would receive a bad conduct discharge, along with a rank reduction and prison time for 12 months. The Air Force was supposed to enter his name into the National Criminal Information Center, but failed to do so. Kelly was able to pass a background check and purchased two firearms.
U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled in July that the Air Force was “60% liable” for the attack after failing to submit Kelly’s assault convictions. The Air Force is now being ordered to pay more than $230 million in damages to survivors and victims’ families. The lawyers for the survivors and victims’ families originally asked for $418 million, while the Justice Department had proposed $31.8 million. They would end up settling on $230 million.
U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez stated, “Ultimately, there is no satisfying way to determine the worth of these families’ pain.”
Questions:
Do you think money can replace the lives of lost ones?
Is there a way the Pentagon should handle cases like this?
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sutherland-springs-shooting-air-force-to-pay-230-million/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/08/us-air-force-texas-church-shooting-compensation/
4 comments:
can money replaces lives? for the people close to that person probably not, in the grand picture of society, probably. I like to think my life is at least worth 74.3k, anyways I digress. Pragmatically I think financial compensation is probably the best solution considering the Air force and the military in general can't really bring back the dead. Personally I think Pentagon should probably invest more into veteran mental rehabilitation, invenstigate mental profiles of individuals, and probably work to prevent stop loss orders to prevent mental fatigue. However will they do that? probably not. I think they will probably just pay the bill and move along since it will be in the public mind for about a day before it blows over. Plus I think the Pentagon has bigger fish to fry, like China, Russia, and nuclear arms modernization.
Money cannot replace the lives of lost loved ones. Obviously, the more practical benefits of a family member (work income, caring for the children, house maintenance, etc.) can partially be replaced by money, but the indispensable, unique aspects to a family member (personality, love, guidance, companionship, etc.) are irreplaceable.
There were a lot of mistakes along the way that ultimately led to the tragedy. Firstly, it was indicated in the NBC article referenced that he was in a mental health center in New Mexico in 2012. Why was a mentally ill man still enlisted in the Air Force for two years?! If it's true that he was discharged in 2014 for the conviction of his assault, how did he qualify to serve when he was institutionalized in 2012?! This just doesn't add up. Obviously, the major mistake was the Air Force not submitting his assault information to the FBI. Tragically, this mistake led to the loss of 25 lives (26 if one considers an unborn child a human life). So, how should the Pentagon handle cases like this? They should report the darn conviction to the Criminal Justice Investigation Services Division and not be lazy, sloppy, nor negligent. I appreciate Pascal's realistic and critical view of the Pentagon, but luckily these mass shootings are few and far between and it seems they did all they could to make up for the loss of life. Of course, I say that so coldly but I am a staunch proponent of gun control. Tragedies like this shouldn't have to be a concern to the public.
No matter who dies, nothing is able to replace them, not even money. While the money might help with planning funerals and covering incomes for those who had lost their lives, that money is nothing more than a weak apology. I think that while the Air Force is liable for the shooting that took place, I believe that there should have been more done up until that point; mental health is becoming a bigger topic as time goes by and like Pascal said, I believe that more should be invested into the mental rehabilitation of veterans. It's a tasking job and things like therapy could prevent things like this.
While obviously money cannot ever replace the value of a life, I don't think the settlement is meaningless. Air Force needed to make amends, at least in some way, for the damage they caused to those hurt by this.
It brings up another point to the dangers involved with guns in our country. While this was the fault of the Air Force for not reporting the incidents, it shouldn't be this easy for someone to get a gun and commit violence. It also connects to the issue of mental health, and how this particularly affects veterans. In response to this event, I think more should be done to take care of soldiers after they serve, and gun control should become stricter. And, obviously, the Air Force should do what they are legally required to do, as this negligence had a significant cost.
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