Only one month old, Paris Talley died of "high-heat internal injuries," seemingly due to being microwaved, according to CNN. Her mother, China Arnold is about to begin trial in Ohio for the baby's death and faces the death penalty. Arriving home after a heavy night of drinking in 2005, Arnold claims to have given the baby a bottle and then fallen asleep. When waking the next morning, she found the baby unconscious. Arnold argues knowing nothing about the circumstances surrounding her daughter's death, including the burns.
Police Detective Michael Galbraith recalls her saying, "If I hadn't gotten so drunk, I guess my baby wouldn't have died." While that is probably a fair assessment on her part, does her intoxication therefore provide a platform for her to escape legal punishment? With "40 percent of a pint of high-proof rum" in her system, can Arnold be in charge of being fully cognizant of her actions? Maybe not, but is it equally unfair for her to be let off the hook for her irresponsibility?
If she had double-parked or committed any similarly small offense as a result of her skewed judgment, she would have been held accountable. It was a personal choice for this woman - as it is for most people who do so - to abuse alcohol. Unlike unmanageable mental disorders, which allow accused criminals to plead insanity, consuming alcohol - except in distinct case of the disease alcoholism - is self-inflicted and completely controllable.
But if the woman was to ever plead guilty to putting her child into the microwave, an insanity plea may not be far off. In actuality, there is no difference between the sadism required to put an infant into the dumpster or the microwave. But because one of those things is so unheard of, we are quick to typify it as being a concern of insanity as opposed to sheer neglect or irresponsibility.
To do something so vile to a helpless child shows no value for human life. There is no justification for it. Certainly, being drunk causes rationalization to float out the window. But in such circumstances, it is hard to see that as an explanation. Extreme cases like Arnold's may make some New Jersey citizens regret having given up the option to invoke capital punishment.
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