Dawn K. Roy, in her capacity as the administratrix of the estate of Brett A. Roy v. State

OPINION

Chief Justice SUTTELL,

for the Court.

A wise jurist once wrote.

“This is a hard case — hard not in the sense that it is legally difficult or tough to crack, but in the sense that it requires us * * * to deny relief to a plaintiff for whom we have considerable sympathy. We do what we must, for ‘it is the duty of all courts of justice to take care, for the general good of the community, that hard cases do not make bad law.’ ” Burnham v. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America, 873 F.2d 486, 487 (1st Cir.1989) (Selya, J.) (quoting United States v. Clark, 96 U.S. 37, 49, 24 L.Ed. 696 (1877)…