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The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

Douglas Kennedy’s surname the main talking point in child endangerment charge

The Kennedy’s have garnered the title of one of the great American families. The legacy and respect that Americans share for both JFK and Robert F. Kennedy have long supported the idea that the Kennedy’s come from class, elegance and finesse. This legacy is supported by the family’s younger generation, but unfortunately, poor media attention – due to a small altercation blown way out of proportion – might threaten the Kennedy name.

In February, Douglas H. Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, stormed out of a hospital with his newborn son after doctors and nurses advised him not to. He claimed that he was just taking the baby on a walk, but he was stopped by hospital staff on the way out. He was charged with harassment and child endangerment. Cases like this happen more than we think, but this case has blown up so much simply because of the name associated with the baby – Kennedy.

The nurses are claiming they are still suffering emotional and physical pain from being pushed around by Kennedy. Since the nurses are filing a harassment charge, many would think that they are trying to make a profit from the lawsuit. The nurses say they were just protecting the baby and doing their job and that they don’t expect a paycheck out of it.

The Kennedy’s are filing a complaint against the nurses for allegedly speaking about the health records of the family, which violates the HIPPA federal law. While the hospital’s job is to protect the baby, the family should have every right to do what they think is best for their own child. Child endangerment charges should not be warranted unless the child is actually being endangered. A father taking his child on a walk hardly constitutes a dangerous situation.

While Kennedy’s behavior might have been out of line, he is the father and had every right to take the baby. The nurses are not trained in security and should have called law enforcement right away, instead of waiting until he got downstairs, if they thought the baby was in legitimate danger. There are aspects of this case that are blurry, but for the most part both sides did some wrong doing. Kennedy shouldn’t have attacked the nurses, and the nurses shouldn’t have taken things into their own hands.

But regardless of whose fault it was, it’s doubtful that Kennedy was in an out-of-control, violent state while holding his newborn child in his arms. If the new father didn’t have the all-American name, would the spotlight have been so drawn to what appeared to be a fairly minor incident?

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