Latimer essays

Latimer essays On Sunday, October 24, 1993, Robert Latimer killed his daughter, Tracy Latimer. Robert Latimer placed Tracy in his truck and ran a hose from the exhaust pipe into the cab of the truck. Tracy was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning and Robert Latimer confessed to the murder. What makes this case so unique and debated is that Tracy Latimer had cerebral palsy. Robert Latimer has been in court several times and has only served minimal time in jail. On November 16, 1994, he was first convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in jail with no parole for ten years. This ruling was overturned due to a technicality in the case. The second conviction occurred on December 1, 1997. Rather than receiving the minimum sentence for second degree murder, Judge Noble made an unprecedented exemption from the second degree murder minimum sentence. He sentenced Robert Latimer to one year in a provincial jail and one year of house arrest on his farm in Wilkie, Saskatchewan. Both the crown and the defence appealed the conviction. The case is still in the courts. Our legal system is not yet equipped to deal with euthanasia cases. The law is very unclear about consequences for euthanasia. Robert Latimer deemed that Tracy was better off dead and that he killed her out of love, but who has the right to determine who should live and who should die? Society tends to define people by their ability to produce. Anyone who is unproductive is seen as being of little worth. According to a survey conducted by Angus Ried Group, 73% of Canadians believe Robert Latimer should receive a more lenient sentence and of that 73%, 41% said mercy killing should not be against the law. I believe society needs to re-evaluate its stand on this moral issue Robert Latimer killed Tracy because he said that he could no longer allow Tracy to endure all the pain she was experiencing. People call it mercy killing but I believe Tracy was murdered. In some people'...