Justice wasn’t blind, it was stupid
I’ve already written a serious column this week, and this is supposed to be a
bit more fun, but when I read this story I couldn’t let it pass or wait.
Over in Fort Worth, Texas, a 16-year-old who was three times above the minimum level for intoxication got into a car wreck and killed four people. Did he get tried as an adult and sentenced to prison? Was he treated as a juvenile and sent to a juvenile facility until he’s 21, which in itself would be poor punishment? Nope. Little @#$% got 10 years’ probation.
Why did he get probation you ask? Because he’s rich. Seriously. His attorney convinced the judge that the punk suffered from “affluenza” because he’s from a wealthy family — his parents never said no to him and they never taught him right from wrong. But, we do live in a society where more and more the rich think they can do whatever they want.
Excuse me? Being a spoiled, rich brat now is an acceptable excuse for reckless behavior and killing four people? Give me strength. In what warped world is such a thing even conceivable? In what kind of legitimate court can a lawyer bring up such an outrageous claim and be taken seriously by anyone?
The defense team argued that this kid’s parents never punished him for anything, not even when he was found passed out in his car with a naked 14-year-old girl. Seriously, he didn’t get into trouble for that? If I’d been the 14-year-old’s father, this kid would have learned a lesson he’d never forget.
He didn’t know right from wrong? So, if he’d gone cruising along a street randomly firing a gun from his car and he shot four people, then that was OK because he didn’t know it was wrong? It’s the same difference as getting drunk as a skunk then driving and killing four people.
If he didn’t learn from his “parents,” what about school? Was his education so poor, or his teachers so ineffective, that he didn’t at least get a hint that there are some things you’re not supposed to do? Had he learned nothing from just everyday life outside the family estate? Or, were all the circles in his life filled with privileged snots for whom the rules the rest of us live by didn’t apply?
A few things need to be done. First, the judge in the case needs to be taken out of office for buying this load of manure and basically letting the kid off, although a 10-year probation usually is a sign prosecutors expect a person to mess up again, and this kid surely will. Then, the kid needs to be sent to the worst prison farm in Texas to hoe veggies for a while; he’ll learn right from wrong.
Next, mom and dad need to be sued by the survivors and have as much of their wealth taken away as possible. It probably wouldn’t hurt for them to do a little prison farm hoeing for being irresponsible jerks instead of hanging out at the country club.
In the meantime, the punk gets to go to an expensive rehab while four innocent people went to the graveyard because of him. What’s really sad is that we’ll probably hear about him again, the next time someone pays for his lack of raising.
Over in Fort Worth, Texas, a 16-year-old who was three times above the minimum level for intoxication got into a car wreck and killed four people. Did he get tried as an adult and sentenced to prison? Was he treated as a juvenile and sent to a juvenile facility until he’s 21, which in itself would be poor punishment? Nope. Little @#$% got 10 years’ probation.
Why did he get probation you ask? Because he’s rich. Seriously. His attorney convinced the judge that the punk suffered from “affluenza” because he’s from a wealthy family — his parents never said no to him and they never taught him right from wrong. But, we do live in a society where more and more the rich think they can do whatever they want.
Excuse me? Being a spoiled, rich brat now is an acceptable excuse for reckless behavior and killing four people? Give me strength. In what warped world is such a thing even conceivable? In what kind of legitimate court can a lawyer bring up such an outrageous claim and be taken seriously by anyone?
The defense team argued that this kid’s parents never punished him for anything, not even when he was found passed out in his car with a naked 14-year-old girl. Seriously, he didn’t get into trouble for that? If I’d been the 14-year-old’s father, this kid would have learned a lesson he’d never forget.
He didn’t know right from wrong? So, if he’d gone cruising along a street randomly firing a gun from his car and he shot four people, then that was OK because he didn’t know it was wrong? It’s the same difference as getting drunk as a skunk then driving and killing four people.
If he didn’t learn from his “parents,” what about school? Was his education so poor, or his teachers so ineffective, that he didn’t at least get a hint that there are some things you’re not supposed to do? Had he learned nothing from just everyday life outside the family estate? Or, were all the circles in his life filled with privileged snots for whom the rules the rest of us live by didn’t apply?
A few things need to be done. First, the judge in the case needs to be taken out of office for buying this load of manure and basically letting the kid off, although a 10-year probation usually is a sign prosecutors expect a person to mess up again, and this kid surely will. Then, the kid needs to be sent to the worst prison farm in Texas to hoe veggies for a while; he’ll learn right from wrong.
Next, mom and dad need to be sued by the survivors and have as much of their wealth taken away as possible. It probably wouldn’t hurt for them to do a little prison farm hoeing for being irresponsible jerks instead of hanging out at the country club.
In the meantime, the punk gets to go to an expensive rehab while four innocent people went to the graveyard because of him. What’s really sad is that we’ll probably hear about him again, the next time someone pays for his lack of raising.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment