Reply #25: I am not one who doesn't believe in zero tolerance

[pipoman]

and consider myself a civil libertarian. I believe each case must be evaluated individually. As it is almost nobody is prosecuted in these tragedies.

That said, if there were Federal guidelines which each state was strongly urged to adopt as law which included a four sided fence and hard pool cover. Then if an accident still occurred through no fault of the pool owner, meaning every reasonable precaution was taken, yet through the ingenuity of the child an accident still occurred, no criminal prosecution should occur, imo.

As for the federal thing. I think the feds should make a set of reasonable guidelines, then strongly encourage the states to adopt them as laws. This happens a lot, child safety seats, drinking and tobacco ages, DUI alcohol levels, etc.

The neighbor should have to fence the pool because a pool is a kid lure. I don't have kids but am still required to fence my sewage lagoon. Standardized rules should apply. What if the neighbor has company with kids? Or if they sell their home?