"Affluenza" defense for DWI deaths, Ridiculous
Offline Apparently if a rich kid kills a few people in a DWI fatality, he is able to plead the affluenza defense. The fact that he grew up with money made him do it. Now why did it never occur to me that someone with a lot of money might develop a dreadful psychosis that makes them royalty ? Truth to be told, I would be embarrassed if I was his parents to know that he is practically getting away with this :
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/dec/13/sentence-texas-teens-fatal-dwi-wreck-stirs-ire/
HOUSTON (AP) — "Affluenza," the affliction cited by a psychologist to argue that a North Texas teenager from a wealthy family should not be sent to prison for killing four pedestrians while driving drunk, is not a recognized diagnosis and should not be used to justify bad behavior, experts said Thursday.
A judge's decision to give 16-year-old Ethan Couch 10 years of probation for the fatal accident sparked outrage from relatives of those killed and has led to questions about the defense strategy. A psychologist testified in Couch's trial in a Fort Worth juvenile court that as a result of "affluenza," the boy should not receive the maximum 20-year prison sentence prosecutors were seeking.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
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http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/13/opinion/callan-affluenza-ridiculous/index.html?hpt=hp_t4
The cure is prison
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
Update: 10 years probation for killing 4 people and injuring 2 others
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/05/no-jail-for-teen/5242173/
I want to be a rich and white teen.
Religion Kills !!!
Numbers 31:17-18 - Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.
http://jesus-needs-money.blogspot.com/
I don't see how this can be a defence when the symptoms can be addressed directly, swiftly, and permanently:
Take away their toys and their money.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
Perhaps this can explain why an infinitely-entitled god would allow needless suffering to occur.
There are no theists on operating tables.
It's a test to see if we are worthy, but if god knows every thing then it is already known if we are worthy or not worthy, which means god is a sick fuck, but god is merciful so being a sick fuck means that god is.... [as blood runs down out of by eyes and my ears]
If no one had died and cars had not been smashed up you could make more of a case for a slap on the wrist, but 4 people and not even one year in prison? If a poor person had done the same thing you'd be talking 15 to 25 to life.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
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I challenge you to find a single case where a 16 year old was sentenced 15 years+ for any car accident, intoxicated or not, in any state. And what would be the point? What great purpose is served by throwing him in jail for his entire life? If I was the judge, I'd have sent him to a boot camp followed by a specialty school and made the parents pay for it. I see no benefit in tossing him in jail for decades. And I also believe the judge that the "affluenza" defense had zero effect on the decision. Juvenille judges generally prefer to seek out any potential alternatives to long term jail because most of them believe that kids can be reformed- and they can. If anything, perhaps we should consider changing the law to allow the money that would be allotted to jail to pay for rehab/boot camps/specialty schools in cases where the defendants family can't afford those things.
The last thing we need to do is pass laws to make sure more kids are jailed through their 20's. You put someone in jail from age 20-30 and they are not going to transition back into society easily. Chances are, they will become a criminal for life.
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
I agree completely. There are plenty of individuals for whom jail is the only viable solution for society at large. But the majority, especially children, can do far better without prison. Prison is basically a school for crime. The fewer people sent there the better.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.