The difference being that the 16 year old thief was also on drugs and ended up killing 4 innocent people:doh:

Tribes, nearly everyone has driven after consuming some alcohol at some point in their livf.Particularly when younger, as it is when most people tend to engage in high rick behaviors, maybe you are a hardcore "square" choir boy type or one who likes to pretend to be, everyone makes mistakes.DUI is a very common crime in the US, particularly among young people.

Of course, you guys are dragging us away from the topic.I admire the defense employed by his attorney, it's rather clever, one a lot of attorneys would not have the guts to go for.Also, while a light punishment compared prison, I must maintain it is an appropriate one not putting a 16 year old kid into our ineffective and rather brutal prison system.Being a young kid, he is likely to be bullied, sexually assaulted etc and come out more screwed up than he is now, likely to abuse alcohol and drugs even more and do this again or something worse, cushioned by his parent's money until he really screws up.Ten years under felony probation, living in a facility, while comfortable, is still not exactly a vacation spot.This young man will be under the thumb of the staff, not have privileges such as xbox etc(seems minor but often means to the world to people that age) and will not be allowed the usual freedom he would have on the outside.The Judge made the right decision here and admire her for doing so.

I am so sick of majority of people in my country on issues such as this, we have to evolve to solve problems such as the prison crisis and flawed criminal justice system but we can't as a long as people hold the "hang em high" mentality in every case, it's just ignorant and wrong.Much how we look back at "justice" in the old west and even for most of the 20th century as ignorant, and primitive, we may live long enough to look back on this time and think, wow what were we thinking? Or those who come after us will. Like I said, we must move from the punishment/revenge mentality into a punishment but rehabilitation mindset for prisons, if we do, we will see a sharp decline in recidivism rate and elimination of the permanent criminal underclass.

Only a drunk driver would defend drunk driving as "normal" behaviour which "everyone" does:nope:

No, the difference is he is a 16 year old kid who had no real concept of the possible consequences of his actions.The illegal immigrant who hit us is a 30 something man, who was not even supposed to be in the same country as me, had no right to do so, who chose to disrespect every us citizen, our way of life etc but even being here.Then, he proceeded to illegally operate a motor vehicle, with no license, no insurance, and while heavily intoxicated.Then he crashed into us and attempted the flee the scene, fortunately I was able to stop him from doing so.

The key difference here is one was a 16 year old kid who was an actual US citizen, who made a mistake the lead to terrible consequences.Four people are dead, putting him in prison will not bring them back.All it will do is satisfy some misguided, outdated notion of "justice" based on the human need for vengeance.Putting this kid in prison solves nothing, but with probation etc, he can serve his time and make a change if he wants, if not, he will end up in prison.

The illegal immigrant who hit me, knew better(as I said) and while I was he would be in a system focused on punishment and rehabilitation then deported, and not able to come back due to a properly secured border, he will likely get some time in local jail then be deported, may or may not make it back but he deserves nothing from us because he does not belong in our society.

Personally, I would like to see the US government use a island they own somewhere(sure they do) that is no inhabited and turn it into a penal colony for illegal immigrants caught reentering the country for a second time or those who commit serious offenses or repeat offenses.One time, they are merely deported, second time, they serve minimum 10 years hard labor on the island, then deported.

Yes, this is more centered on punishment but as they are not members of our society, they are not entitled to rehabilitation.Between a heavily secured border and real consequences for being here illegally, whether its crossing the border or purposely overstaying a visa etc, it would dramatically cut down on the illegal problem.

Do you believe in the Easter Bunny? the story is just as plausible as the one you are trying to sell:doh:

What in the US judicial system is the age of criminal responsibility?

Here in the UK it is ten years of age.

Have you ever been in the front line of the consequences of the above because FYI I have and on more occasions than my stomach would like to remember.

As far as I am concerned your remarks are based in the main on what I believe to be on your racist beliefs.

Go tell the families of the four dearly departed what your views are.

Once more I'm informing you publicly that your posts are contentious and in violation of the rules of this forum.

No, I am acknowledging a problem here that is well known.Of course you will try to find a way to turn it on me, but it's the truth most people, at some point, have consumed alcohol then operated a motor vehicle.Drunk? no but technically DUI? Yes, in many cases.Calling someone a drunk driver for a past mistake is bs by the way, but would expect nothing less from you.I have tried to offer the olive branch before but you seem to enjoy getting personal because you have nothing else to offer.Sad little man you are.I would love to meet you one day, just to see if you fit the mental image I have formed of you.

Age of responsibility varies state to state.Most states it is 12-14 but even then.10? wow that is young. Even a 16 year old though does not have the full capacity to recognize consequences of their actions, whatever the law is set at.Issue is not black and white, sorry.

I would tell the families my views if had to, they are based on logic and rationality toward solving a problem, not emotion.

Yes, I have seen the consequences of drunk driving crashes, seen a few when on ride a longs with law enforcement.I lost a friend in college to a drunk driving accident.Still though, no punishment will bring it back, big picture is solving the problem, not getting revenge.


Your views on my "racist beliefs" are incorrect, my views on illegal immigration applies to white european immigrants as much as it would one of hispanic origins. I ask that you remain fair and not censor me on your incorrect perception of beliefs, simply because you disagree.I sent you a PM to discuss this further.

:har:

The 16 year old was driving drunk and on pills too and kills four (4) people and gets 10 years probation instead of a ten year jail sentence.

If he was a poor white teenager would he had of received the same sentence? No! Simply because he was well represented by very expensive professional attorney's. Heck if he was a rich black teenager they would've thrown the book at him.

It was the end of the conversation on NBC this morning, but I could've sworn they said he had to go to a drug rehab treatment center in California every year now for the next ten years and then I heard that the cost was $450,000 a year. That adds up to 4 and 1/2 million dollars ... :o

It should not be legal to be rich and get away with murder :hmmm:

That is garbage, sorry.There is no evidence to support this and the only thing his family's wealth had to do with his sentence was yes, they could afford a top notch lawyer who employed a rather ingenious defense, and it worked.Even some top notch lawyers would not have thought to employ that defense and may not have had the outcome.The amount of knee jerk reaction class warfare on here is just total nonsense. Then you pulled the race card lol, I believe with a black client and same lawyer, would have had the same outcome.Judge's have discretion in most cases and it is a good thing, not every case is the same, uniform laws such as mandatory minimums are garbage for this reason.

Should not be legal to get away with murder? lol first thing, it was not murder, it was DWI manslaughter.Just bugs me when people use the term murder in a generic manner, it's legally and factually incorrect.There are elements that must be met to be a murder.This was manslaughter and he was given a sentence the judge deemed appropriate, likely for many reasons I have described.Nothing to do with his wealth, race etc.

Yes, his rehab facility is 450k a year but so what? That is no one's business, his family has money, good for them, he won't be burden on the state other than paying for his PO to keep tabs on him.

This kid screwed up, his actions caused the death of four people, injured nine others I believe, it's sad and unfortunate but again, sending him to prison, accomplishes nothing.

I often wish I lived in a more evolved time, this country is still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to certain matters, makes me disgusted and sad to be an american.

He could just as well decided it would have been fun to start shooting randomly in the air. If four people were killed as a result of that would it be any different. The car was a deadly weapon in his hands and I see no difference.

Ugh, there is a difference, that is a simplistic, and inaccurate comparison. Intent is one thing, ever here of malice aforethought? Elements of murder, they don't exist in DUI manslaughter. The kid made a mistake, and will pay for it in the legal sense and sure the fact he killed 4 people will haunt him the rest of his life.

No difference. No intent to harm just shooting in the air like a drunken New Years Eve reveler. A car driven by a drunk is no different in my eyes. It's a deadly weapon.

What makes you think that? The affluence that he claimed was responsible for the incident has limited his punishment to a slap on the wrist.