Somebody Has To Pay

        I was once hired to participate as a juror for a mock civil case.   The case involved the death of a man who was cleaning out a railroad tank car.  The company providing this service employed the man, who died from poisonous gases after entering a tank car.  A second individual also died after entering the tank car to save him. 

        The defendant was the company that owned the tank car.  No action was being taken against the company that employed him, the manufacturer of the railroad car, or the manufacturer of the test equipment used to assure the air inside the tank car was safe.  We were not provided any information concerning why these companies were not named in the lawsuit.

        The facts presented to us were that the individual had tested the air inside the tank car, said it was “good to go,” and climbed inside with no breathing protection and collapsed.  A second individual entered the tank car to rescue him with no breathing protection and also collapsed.  Both individuals died.  The air testing equipment had been checked and was working properly.  The railroad tank car was properly marked for containing hazardous materials.  

Thirty-six individuals had been hired to form three juries of twelve.  After being presented the facts and instructions from the judge, the three groups were sent to three deliberation rooms.   Each room was equipped with video cameras and sound equipment.

I was selected as the foreman for our jury.  When we took our first vote, eleven mock jurors voted to award the plaintiff everything they were asking for.  The logic was that the man had died and someone had to pay.  I was the one holdout.  It was a little like the play or movie Twelve Angry Men.  After several hours of deliberation, we agreed that the deceased individual had not taken the appropriate precautions and had acted in an irresponsible manner costing him and another individual their lives.  This was a tragic accident, but the tank car owner was certainly not responsible or liable.  We awarded the plaintive nothing.

I do not know what happened in to other two mock juries, if the case ever went to trial, or if a settlement was made out of court.  The thing that made an impression on me was that eleven of the jurors in my room felt that someone had died so someone had to pay.  The idea of personal responsibility was initially not a consideration. 

This idea that no one has personal responsibility for his or her actions has been escalating over the last few decades.  Ronald Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker.  It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” 

I see race, sex, religion, police, courts, government, education, corporations, products, and the media all blamed when the real problem is a lack of common sense and personal responsibility.  Our ancestors took personal responsibility for their actions.  We need to take a lesson from them.