On May 22, 2009, the two couples, Leilan and Dale Neumann were held guilt and charged for second degree homicide reckless. Later on October that year, the two parents were sentenced for ten years in probation and six months jail tenure. The two parents could have done something reasonable to save the life of their daughter instead of neglecting her in excuse of religious beliefs.
It could be seen that the Neumanns were able to comply with the law that comprises of religious exemption for child neglect and abuse that permits parents to apply faith based rituals as a substitute for medication. If they could have applied the law appropriately, they could have been charged with child neglect and abuse rather than homicide.
Although there is inconsistency in the state criminal codes, religious issues in this case should not be used as a defense for this crime. The two parents could have considered seeking medical attention at the point where their daughter’s health worsened (Watts, 2011). However, the penalty for the two could not be so tough because one could argue that they have ben mislead by their religious views. In real sense, they were able to determine when and how to pray so that they could not cross the line. They did not know the appropriate measure to take to save the life of their daughter. The two parents did not have the shield of religious exemption because they were charged with homicide.
However, the Wisconsin law should be revised to make it clear to what extent that the parent should depend on the faith rituals. The law could provide the appropriate action to be taken by the parents, who believes in spiritual world rather than doctors, for the sake of the life of their children.
The process has been fair to the defendants since they were unable to utilize the clause that would expel them from trial. This is because in Wisconsin, the law asserts that parents cannot be sued for deaths that arise from failure of spiritual healing. However, in the general application of the law, one would argue that justice had been served for the deceased based on the argument that the mother was advised by the father to seek medical attention meaning that there was no unity in the parents’ decision in taking the child to hospital or relying on prayers.
On the issue of religious beliefs of the family, it is evident that most of the members were advocating that the child be taken to hospital except the mother. This would raise serious doubt about the religion of the family where there is no perfect agreement. This is captured in the incident where Dale suggested that they take the daughter top hospital. This suggests that their faith was not strong thus it was ignorance for Leilani to refuse to seek medical attention.
Despite the jurors’ verdict, the case is likely to head to the Supreme Court where full interpretation of the law will be done. In essence, the state of Wisconsin allows healing by prayer and that parents are not supposed to be convicted when deaths occur in application of their faith. According to Watts (2011), spiritual healing should not be used to substitute medical attention. Many argue that the Neumanns out to be freed since the law of the state allowed them to behave thus.
Reference
Watts, F. N. (2011). Spiritual healing: Scientific and religious perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Death by prayer - Isthmus | The Daily Page. (n.d.). Retrieved fromhttp://www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=23430
