Brickbat: A Mother's Love

Alena Ozerova / Dreamstime.com

Former Long Beach, Mississippi, police officer Cassie Barker has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of her 3-year-old daughter. Barker left the girl in a car seat in her patrol car while she had sex with her supervisor at his home. Barker left the air conditioning on but it wasn't blowing cool air and the girl overheated.

Comments

[a ab abc abcd abcde abcdef ahf]

The car may not have been blowing, but the cop was.

[BigT]

Who hasn't had a barker or two?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Barker, who was working two jobs at the time, originally claimed she had been talking to Clark Ladner at his house early on a hot weekday morning when she fell asleep. Ladner and Barker were fired by the city of Long Beach within days.

At least we know police can be terminated for the death of an unarmed civilian, under certain circumstances.

[AlmightyJB]

You can be blow people away, you just can't blow people.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The mother had left her daughter alone in a car at least once before, at a store in nearby Gulfport in April 2015. Police responded and child welfare officials took temporary custody of the girl at the time. Barker was suspended from the Long Beach police for a week without pay. The girl's father, Ryan Hyer, said he was never notified of that first incident.

The father is suing the Long Beach Police Department and the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services for the wrongful death of his child, saying the child welfare agency should have taken stronger action after the first incident.

An innocent's death doesn't make them stop covering for each other, taxpayer settlement dollars probably won't either.

[Jerryskids]

Deshaney v Winnebago County says CPS has no more duty to protect and serve than the cops do. Even when you've got multiple mandatory reporters reporting child abuse and a case worker documenting the child abuse.

[Eddy]

There's more "state action" here since the abusive parent is herself a govt employee, unlike poor Joshua's parents.

[Earth Skeptic]

Why should the taxpayers be on the hook? If various individuals at the PD and CPS screwed up, make them pay. And if they don't have the cash, how about enslavement?

[An Owl Named Dur]

What the hell would I do with an enslaved cop. I don't have any dogs who shot or donuts that need eaten.

[markm23]

Perhaps you could sell her to a porn producer or a bordello - but I haven't looked up any pictures of her...

[dobolson]

Start working at home with Google! It's by-far the best job I've had. Last Wednesday I got a brand new BMW since getting a check for $6474 this - 4 weeks past. I began this 8-months ago and immediately was bringing home at least $77 per hour. I work through this link, go to tech tab for work detail.

>>>>>>>>>> http://www.GeoSalary.com

[BigT]

I applaud her sex drive, but not her parenting skills.

[Still Curmudgeoned (Nunya)]

Maybe, but seeing her picture gives me pause.

[sharmota4zeb]

The moment she sees a new stud, she has the reproductive urges of a langur in heat.

#Don'tStickYourDickInCrazy

[Conchfritters]

"I don't know what I could ever do to you that could be worse than what you've already experienced ... You will forever be entombed in a prison of your own mind," Bourgeois said to Barker.

Sounds like the judge is getting ready to give her probation. She should get the same sentence any other parent gets for cooking their kid in a car, +15 years because she left the kid in the car before.

[Longtobefree]

Clearly, no woman should be allowed to have a job if she is responsible for a child under seven years of age.
If your choice is to have a child, you owe the child and society your full attention to raising that child during its formative years. After seven years, the mother could be allowed to work only during the hours school is in session.
This 'mother' should be fined an amount equal to the taxes that child would have generated during it's working lifetime.

[NoVaNick]

This case really is inexcusable and, unlike with other parents who have had this happen, I have a hard time finding much sympathy for the mom. But, you can't realistically forbid moms from working, especially if the dad isn't in the picture to support her and the kid.

[Fancylad]

I understand your point, but that's not practicable.

Contrary to the bourgeoisie feminist narrative about staying-at-home vs a career, most women have had to work and work hard while raising kids through history.
Of my female ancestors, my paternal ones worked in the fields right beside their husbands, eking a living out of the exhausted Ukrainian dirt. My maternal ones spent every day but Sunday, cleaning and salting herring by the docks to be shipped south to London. The older children had to look after the younger ones.
Their daughters went to the cities but still had to work full-time as cooks, maids, office cleaners and shop assistants.
Their daughters became nurses, and transcriptionists, and schoolteachers. An important improvement but the families still couldn't afford single income.

Only wealthy upper-middle class women could afford to stay home.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

But remember, only police officers are responsible enough to carry a firearm.

[NoVaNick]

The child's tragic and awful death aside, having sex with your supervisor is another glaring example of how ethics do not apply to law enforcement

[Crackers Boy]

While awful on many levels, I guess I'd have to know whether the mother knew that the air conditioner wasn't working.

I've left my dog in the car with the AC running while I went into the grocery store. (Dog, not child... I know). Not for sex, but for food, not that it matters.

CB

[NoVaNick]

I think rolling the windows down is more important than leaving the AC running, since AC can stop working as it did in this case. Would be more worried about that than someone stealing the kid or dog.

[Longtobefree]

On the dog side, you need to be worried about some dumb ass coming up to pet the dog and getting eaten.

[Rossami]

Time matters, too. Maybe it's my age but it takes me a lot less time to get groceries than to have sex. Leaving a kid (or a dog) in the car while shopping for groceries is guaranteed to be a pretty short wait.

[ducksalad]

You people can't see the real villains here.

1. The corporation that made an unreliable AC unit, completely disregarding reliability in their greed.
2. The corporation that pandered to people's desire for luxury and status by marketing cars with windows. Windows are a factor in every one of these deaths.
3. The corporation that sold a child seat without ejection capability, even though ejection seat technology has been around since the late 1940s. Just to shave costs.
4. The instructors (probably private contractors) who failed to properly train this mother and dedicated police officer.

And all four of them contributed to the global warming that made it hot that day.