Grieving parents in wrongful-death suits seek vindication, not money

Evidence

“Why don’t you do that tomorrow? Sometimes,” continued the judge, musing, “if you examine what people really want, it’s surprising how quickly a case will settle. The main fuel, I think, in lawsuits for the death of children is an overwhelming sense of personal guilt. Mostly, I don’t think parents really want money. They may indeed be offended that money is an equivalent for life. What they do want is to have it said clearly that this wasn’t their fault.” — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 1548

Categorization

• XREF: Resonates with past highlights on reparations, compensation rituals, and how money substitutes for — and offends — grief (e.g., the Habbe restitution material).
• SEED: Angle: tort law’s fictions of equivalence — money as a stand-in for a life — and why plaintiffs are insulted by the exchange itself.