Mother files notice to sue NY state in daughter's slaying

AP via Yahoo! ^ | May 26, 2006 | AP

[Brilliant]

I predict her lawsuit will fail, but I support her for bringing it. I'm sick and tired of the authorities letting criminals out of jail like this. Maybe if enough people sue, they will stop.

Another idea would be to sue the politicians for malpractice for allowing this to happen in the first place. Of course, you can't get away with it under current law, but then there was once a time that you could not get away with suing the tobacco companies or the gun manufacturers. If enough people sue, some judge will eventually give in.

[observer5]

"the Board of Parole and the Department of Correction. St. Guillen accuses them of "gross negligence" in letting Darryl Littlejohn, Imette's suspected killer, get out of prison on parole."

Agree with the parole BS, but any girl that goes bar hopping in Manhattan ALONE at wee hours, is a sure candidate for the DARWIN AWARD.

Sorry, but true.

[Leisler]

Liberals have kept these people alive. Even in NY state 2-300 should be killed every year. If the left, the liberals want these people alive, they should, and the tax payer that votes Democrat should pay.

Let's see. 100 mil. times 250 equals 25 billion every year.

Another thing. The leftist lawyers and the love a murderer crowd are always using the cost of trying someone in a death penalitay case and, falsely, how it is cheaper to keep them alive. Well they should factor in the cost of these cases.

Oh, and another thing. The family is trying to sue for justice, but the largest powerful organization in the state, that is the State Government itself, makes a law that the little citizen can not sue. Where is all the 'truth to power' crowd?

[angcat]

She was not street smart. Many people come to NYC and think it is Disneyworld.

[Mark was here]

It is a shame that Darryl Littlejohn did not get the mother along with the daughter. Why in the world this mother thinks the taxpayers of New York are guilty, who she is really suing, is beyond comprehension. Her beef is with the voters who elected the Judge who sentenced Littlejohn in the first place. Take everyone who was an eligible voter for the Judge, and sue them. (I'm assuming the Judges are elected in NY)

I was just wondering if Littlejohn was an indian name? (Why do you ask two dogs...?)

[domenad]

Littlejohn eh? Should be an interesting trial.

"Did you rape and strangle that woman?"

"WHAT?"

"Did you rape and strangle that woman?"

"WHAT?"

"Did you rape and strangle taht woman?"


"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH."

[cake_crumb]

Agreed. Every time we hear of a violent crime, it seems to involve a previous offender out on bail (after being arrested three times or so in one year for things like assault on a police officer and B&E) or out on parole.

The entire public should be sick to death and outraged over the fact that state governments ignore the obvious and continue letting these animals out into the general population.

WHY have prison at all? They do exactly the opposite of what prisons are SUPPOSED to do, which is PUNISH offenders.

[BCrago66]

I thought the 11th Amendment generally bars suing a State (but not a political sub-division of a State, like a town or city) for money damages. The lawyer involved is not an idiot, so I'm sure he has a credible argument citing some exception to this rule, but I don't know what it is.

[cake_crumb]

"Agree with the parole BS, but any girl that goes bar hopping in Manhattan ALONE at wee hours, is a sure candidate for the DARWIN AWARD."

Yes this is true. Doubly so considering she was studying to be a forensic criminologist. It doesn't excuse the state for letting a violent offender out on the street early, OR the bar owner for hiring a convicted, violent felon.

[Politicalmom]

Do you actually think before you type?

It is too bad the mother wasn't brutally murdered along with her daughter?

That's sick.

[School of Rational Thought]

The logic of the suit that is interesting as it is also the logic the left uses in its suit against gun manufacturers, but in this suit has a much more direct relationship.

The gov't knows the recidivision rates and in particular knows an individuals proclivity for crime.

Gun manufacturers, already distant from the customer through a distribution system, have no know such knowledgle a legal result in a crime, possibly through several more transactions distant from itself. The gov't here directly deals with a criminal with a known record.

[kdot]

What a sad, tragic story. This girl died at the hands of a savage and the prosecutors appear to have a sound case with good evidence. The death penalty should be applied in cases like this - don't know about NY.

I am curious why the family thinks they have a case against the Board of Parole and the Department of Corrections. Did they go against the protocols when they released him after his sentence for robbery? Did they break the rules? Gross Negligence implies a serious mishandling of the rules. If so, the family is entitled to a settlement that is large enough to make a difference. Otherwise, they are misplacing the blame and taxpayers shouldn't have to pay. Taking away parole, as a rule, would remove the govt from this type of judgment and I support that, but eventually, robbery convicts walk free.

Sadly, this girl with everything going for her didn't have the good judgment to keep herself safe. No, the cost for poor judgment shouldn't be death. She just paid the ultimate price.

I pray to God for the strength and perseverance to teach my daughter to be vigilant about her safety. It's a lifelong lesson and desperately necessary.

[Gay State Conservative]

Agree with the parole BS, but any girl that goes bar hopping in Manhattan ALONE at wee hours, is a sure candidate for the DARWIN AWARD.

I think that the "Darwin Award" might be a little harsh,but:

This girl was a criminal justice major studying in Manhattan,the best laboratory for the study of vilolent crime in the country.The reports are that she had been drinking and the implication was that she was drunk while bar hopping at 2 or 3 AM.

I'm a big,healthy guy who doesn't drink...at all...and I'm of the opinion that it's very unwise for *me* to be roaming the streets on Manhattan at that time of night.

One must feel bad for the girl and her family,but 100 million?? Now way!

I smell a lawyer here...and the stench makes me sick.

[Gay State Conservative]

I am curious why the family thinks they have a case against the Board of Parole and the Department of Corrections.

Because of the chance that they could get an OJ/Michael Jackson/John Edwards jury.

I doubt that they'd get such a jury in Manhattan or Brooklyn,but in Westchester County......

[TheConservator]

The 11th amendment says you cannot sue a state in FEDERAL court.

Most states have enacted laws abolishing sovereign immunity, which now allow you to sue the state in STATE court.

However, even though most states now allow you to sue them in their own court, they have adopted laws that would not result in liability on these facts.

For example, in my state, the Courts would invoke the "public duty doctrine." Under that rule, a duty owed to the public in general cannot form the basis for a lawsuit by an individual against the state for money damages.

Here, because the state owed the public only a generalized duty to keep potentially violent felons in prison, no individual would be allowed to recover damages for a breach of that duty.

[Mark was here]

Do you actually think before you type?

Yes, I find those who want to make a $100 million dollar profit off a murder sick. I would revise my statement to include the mothers lawyers, along with the mother.

I think it is sick to expect the taxpayers to pay.

And I would have felt bad for the mother being a crime victim, now I only despise her. She has joined in with the dark side.

[thoughtomator]

Manhattan is quite safe these days, even at 2-3 AM. What's not safe anywhere is going out to get drunk and not having someone covering your wing.

[Gay State Conservative]

Manhattan is quite safe these days, even at 2-3 AM.

Safe compared to what? Baghdad?

[khnyny]

"It is a shame that Darryl Littlejohn did not get the mother along with the daughter"

I really don't know what to say in response to that remark. How revolting a sentence, shame on you.

[thoughtomator]

Safe compared to almost anywhere. NYC is one of the safest cities on the planet right now!