This news is local in the nature as it happened in Burleson, TX, close to Crowley, TX, where I spent a good part of my youth growing up. For me, what happened and the court sentence handed down was beyond belief.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/12/the-affluenza-defense-judge-rules-rich-kids-rich-kid-ness-makes-him-not-liable-for-deadly-drunk-driving-accident/
Reader's digest version:
Sixteen year old boy and his friends from Keller, TX come to Burleson, TX, steal beer from the Walmart and go somewhere and drink. In the meantime, a young woman's car breaks down in front of a home. The wife and daughter at home came out to help the young girl. Also, a youth minister stops his car behind the broken down car to give the women a hand. Kids decide they need more beer, so they start back to get more beer. The sixteen year old driver, going 70 mph, slams into both cars, killing all four at the site. Two kids in the bed of the truck were thrown from the truck and both are critically injured - one paralyzed to the point he can only communicate by blinking his eyes.
The boy's parents are wealthy and rather than have him suffer the consequences of his actions, they continually pay off people to keep him out of jail or what have you. The parents hired a psychologist who defends the fact that the kid has no sense of right or wrong because he suffers from "Affluenza" - where his parents have ignored teaching him the basic rights of right and wrong and providing him with whatever he wants.
Rather than sentencing the boy to prison, the judge sentenced the boy to 10 years of probation and his parents have to pay for his treatment. His parents have paid $500,000 to send him to a rehab in California.
I read an FB chain from a friend who was outraged at this sentence. I read several opinions and one person's opinion got the better of me. I had said that at this point, the families should sue the parents in civil court to get monetary support for those lost or hurt. One person stated that we were out for revenge. That just rubbed me the wrong way.
I responded that my view was not one of revenge. The boy needs to understand that every action has a reaction. What you do affects others. Sure, people may pray for him, but all his life, mommy and daddy have pulled him out of one situation or another. If they are going to save him, then rather than paying just the courts, the parents need to "apologize" to those families that are suffering. Send some of that money that they lavishly have spent on this child to people who now need it more than him.
Grace and mercy and forgiveness is not something I can give to this boy or his parents. Those people that this family has touched and hurt are the ones to give that to the family. In my opinion, this is not just throwing a rock at a moving car - this was a boy taking the lives of people. That is pretty harsh. To compound matters, I do not think this kid even understands remorse.
In hindsight, the judge did the right thing. I know that sounds crazy, but this kid will be under the court's thumb for the next 10 years. If he does one thing to break his probation, then he will have to do hard time. Furthermore, because he is 16, he probably would have only served 2 years of his sentence, then been able to walk away and his record wiped clean. I do not think I would have allowed that with a clear conscience.
To be perfectly honest, this kid is probably already a psychopath. Someone that we should all keep an eye on for the future. It just bothers me to no end that someone could do this and have no remorse for their actions. It is completely beyond me.
No comments:
Post a Comment