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Class war is the system that is in place right now where rich people only pay a "penalty" while most people (not rich) would be thrown in jail for 10-20 years?
This is not "baiting" is exposing reality,
sorry that "reality" offends you.
While I think it is an incredible slap in the face to the victims and their families that this boy did not get jail/prison time, I do honestly believe that this boy is going to suffer the effects of this fateful decision to drive drunk for the rest of his life.
Unless he is a hard-core sociopath who derives pleasure from harming and killing others (which is statistically extremely unlikely), then the guilt he feels over this incident is going to be affecting him for the rest of his life. It will always be there, buried, no matter what he does to try to ignore it, deny it, repress it.
I would not be surprised to see that he ends up having a very unhappy life - more involvement with the law, failed relationships, etc. I do not think he walks away from this unscathed.
That is cold comfort to the victims, unfortunately.
The only way he would have any possible way to have real peace in life is if he would take full responsibility, ask the families what they want from him in terms of restitution and give to them everything he is able to, and then spend a significant amount of time trying to do things to prevent others from committing a similar act. If he did all of that, then he could probably eventually achieve some relief. But its very unlikely is headed down that path at the moment. Maybe after a year in drug/alcohol treatment things will be different.
In my state being convicted of a second DUI has an automatic penalty of jail or prison time. With each additional DUI the prison time gets longer. And it is my understanding that it is now very difficult to weasel out of it. A few years ago people were able to convince the judge to give them other charges, instead of a DUI, but not now.
I just looked up the penalty in my state. Vehicular Homicide is a considered a Class D Felony and is punishable by fines of up to $100,000, imprisonment of up to 40 years, or both.
Quite a difference from what that kid received.
Last edited by germaine2626; 12-14-2013 at 01:31 PM..
But we are talking about this particular case. And as you pointed out it is worth hating.
YOU are, but others (on this thread and elsewhere) are making it into a "typical rich kid" issue. As I said, we all know that money talks in a courtroom... but in terms of his upbringing and defense, I assure you that is NOT typical.
In NJ, you get slam dunked for drunk driving. 3-5 years in prison no matter how rich and poor you are. I know that many rich kids as well as poor kids get arrested for this offense. Other states may be different.
Recently, a 70 year old man was sentenced to 5 years in prison after accidentally falling on a woman after losing balance while traveling by bus for sexual assault. He was not able to pay for a good enough lawyer, so the state decided to push the max penalty. Now thats Harsh .
But the real bleeding has only begun. The civil suits from those injured, and from the families of the deceased, will drag on for years, and will consume MILLIONS of Dollars in legal fees. The actual settlements, given the publicity the case has received, and the publicity it WILL receive, will be in the millions [I](but we'll probably never know the exact figures)[/i].
The aftermath of the accident will (according to my estimates) will eat up more than half of the family's total aggregate worth. And if I'm overestimating their worth (and I probably am), and underestimating the legal fees and the amounts of the settlements (or judgements), then the accident may prove to have cost the Couch Family everything they own.
In my opinion, that's a pretty hefty punishment for a child, whose primary crimes were drugging/drinking/having an apparently rather iffy peer group.
quote]
That poor family and they were such good parents.
YOU are, but others (on this thread and elsewhere) are making it into a "typical rich kid" issue. As I said, we all know that money talks in a courtroom... but in terms of his upbringing and defense, I assure you that is NOT typical.
My original statement was quoting someone talking about THIS case. Not another one. Saying people for THIS case were only jumping on the kid because he was rich.
While I think it is an incredible slap in the face to the victims and their families that this boy did not get jail/prison time, I do honestly believe that this boy is going to suffer the effects of this fateful decision to drive drunk for the rest of his life.
Unless he is a hard-core sociopath who derives pleasure from harming and killing others (which is statistically extremely unlikely), then the guilt he feels over this incident is going to be affecting him for the rest of his life. It will always be there, buried, no matter what he does to try to ignore it, deny it, repress it.
I would not be surprised to see that he ends up having a very unhappy life - more involvement with the law, failed relationships, etc. I do not think he walks away from this unscathed.
That is cold comfort to the victims, unfortunately.
The only way he would have any possible way to have real peace in life is if he would take full responsibility, ask the families what they want from him in terms of restitution and give to them everything he is able to, and then spend a significant amount of time trying to do things to prevent others from committing a similar act. If he did all of that, then he could probably eventually achieve some relief. But its very unlikely is headed down that path at the moment. Maybe after a year in drug/alcohol treatment things will be different.
If this was adequate punishment we could just do away with jail anytime someone kills someone else.
Capital Punishment = If you got the capital, you don't do the punishment.
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