Posted on 12/11/2007 5:39:22 PM PST by McCoMo
Didn’t you bring the subject up in the first place? Your talking about pictures that (almost) no one has seen...
Maybe they aren't using them "to get their rocks off" but as a sobering warning to teens about the dangers of speed and not paying attention to the road. They didn't show you Signal 30 or Mechanized Death in Driver's Ed class?
Why do we elevate the people’s right to do and say stupid things which can have devastating effects on others. We seem to be raising a generation of barbarians were it is ok to mock and make fun of anything. For example, there were a shocking number of people who were ready to defend the students who recently dressed up as UVA Murder Victims for Holloween. Its things like this that make me wish that the old customs about dueling had not been abolished - at least back then people had to have some common decensy in what they publically said and did.
If they put a decapitated body in the mangled car, I would agree that might be the same thing.
There's a REASON these 'scared straight' type of campaigns don't use photos of identifiable accident victims. It's called respect for the dead and family members of the deceased. Some family members, however, do allow photos of their deceased loved ones to be used for training purposes and for safe driving campaigns. If the family gives permission, that's another story.
I personally don't think these types of photos deter the sort of teens and adults who drive like maniacs, anyway. They think they're invincible and that it can't happen to them. Illegally e-mailing and posting these photos over the internet, in this particular case, I believe served no purpose other than to feed ghoulish tendencies and torment the family. There were no altruistic motives in this case, IMO.
You think sending the photos to the family was a sobering warning about the dangers of speed? Somehow I get idea that the family has already gotten that message. In spades.
They will settle out of court, if it goes to trial they will need to up the names of everyone that touched the pictures. Whom ever is in charge there needs to be fired as well as the district supervisor.
Ignore the posting police. I was on vacation the week that the first thread was posted and missed it completely, no computer available.
The fact that some many people seem so morbidly obsessed with these pictures is really unsettling. The family has enough to deal with. Tormenting them on top of it accomplishes nothing and that’s sick. It’s also a sign of the real sickness of our society that people would circulate stuff like this so prolifically. Too many people have too much time on their hands.
“Why do we elevate the people’s right to do and say stupid things which can have devastating effects on others. “
Freedom of speech is not about speech that everyone wants to hear. It’s about speech that is stupid and offends people...
I’ve seen them. You don’t want to.
Some of the replies on this thread are downright repulsive. For God’s sake, a young woman lost her life and people are tormenting her family with gruesome photos of her death...and some here are defending those actions.
I don’t know what the policy is here, but I would HOPE that anyone who would post the photos would be permanently banned.
I want to be as sensitive as I can... I have not seen these pictures, nor do I want to. I don’t watch the evening news because there’s too much of this crap.
However, I doubt that a decapitated victim would be identifiable.
Freedom of speech isn’t limitless. We don’t have the right to say or write or produce ANYTHING we want, such libel and defamation, uttering certain threats, yelling “fire” in a crowded theater, reproducing copyrighted material without permission, etc.
Don’t be so obtuse. As if someone’s head is the only thing that makes a person identifiable.
” As if someone’s head is the only thing that makes a person identifiable.”
It pretty much is...
At the very least the person who distributed the pictures should be fired.
BTW, when was the last time you saw a wanted poster in a post office of someone’s foot?
Nonsense. You can show teenagers all the gory pictures you want and the ones that will die will still die. They all think that stuff only happens to other people. I know 'cuz I were one.
LOL! Later, dude. I've gotta go to bed, or else I'll be cranky in the morning.
Yes, and that is the stock answer - I just am not sure that we haven’t gone too far in protecting it as a society. Ultimately, doesn’t society have to have the right to draw a line at some point and say that speech beyond this point is too repulsive and damaging to be allowed.
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