[Socker]

I thought Texas was the state that gave you the chair for everything. I guess it's still unconstitutional to give a teen the death penalty, so is it an all or nothing mentality?

[DuckDodgers]

You get the chair if you can't buy your way out.

[Rama Set]

Where's the justice?

Are the parents going to go to prison instead?

Is there any true justice to be had in this case?

[Alchemist21]

I'm not sure what Texas laws are on driving, but at 16 he probably had taken a driver's ed course, which would have taught about the dangers of drunk driving.  Plus being the child of wealthy parents, he surely had access to enough media to run across PSA's about dangerous driving habits. 

He was drinking underage, and the legal drinking age is common knowledge.  If nothing else, they should have nabbed him for that.  And what happned to the idea "ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it?" 

Like DuckDodgers said, he shouldn't have gotten off so easy just because of money.

[Lemon]

Ignorance of the law is a reasonable excuse when it's something quite minor. When it's killing 4 people... no...

[DDDDAts all folks]

Where's the justice?

Are the parents going to go to prison instead?

Is there any true justice to be had in this case?

Well I would say the parents have a case to answer for.

I think the justice system is sided towards the perpetrator and not the victim.

There's a debt that need to be paid. If the kid killed those people, due to the fault of his parents, then his parents should be held responsible and pay the consequences.

[Lemon]

The parents deserve some time, and he deserves an equal amount of time. I don't care what stupid shit they come up with, to be honest.

[Rama Set]

He got off because of bad parenting, not because of money.

[DuckDodgers]

The bad parenting cited was a direct result of their wealth, affluenza.

[Rama Set]

But that's just it: bad parenting as a result of their wealth. I would hope the courts would show, as a matter of consistency, show the same leniency to children who are parented badly because of neglect.

[DuckDodgers]

Why would they?  There is no excuse for the just plain bad parents while we all know that money corrupts and change people.

[Rama Set]

Are you saying neglectful parenting has no effect on the development of children and adolescence?

[Snupes]

I do think 20 years in prison would have been much, and I was pretty horribly upset hearing about what happened myself.  There's a whole bunch of physiological and hormonal changes going on in teens, and, while he definitely should understand the consequences of his actions, if he genuinely was worse off because of bad parenting (which, on top of those changes that muddle your thinking and judgment, would only make things worse), then Alchemist's option would have been much better.

[DuckDodgers]

No, I'm saying that only rich parents apparently have an excuse to be bad parents and have that exist trickle to their children.

[Rama Set]

No, I'm saying that only rich parents apparently have an excuse to be bad parents and have that exist trickle to their children.

Why would you say that?  Do you have some experience on this or something of that sort?

[DuckDodgers]

Why else would a 16 year old who steals alcohol, drives 30 mph over the speed limit while 3 times over the legal limit and under the influence of Vallium, and kills 4 people get off with a slap on the wrist with probation and counseling?  Also consider the definition of affluenza specifically mentions wealthy young people.  Obviously wealthy was the ultimate cause of this kid's atrocities.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

I'm curious. Are they actually saying that this boy committed this offence as a result of being wealthy? To be honest, the death of 4 people, however abhorrant, doesn't fit the definition of murder, but rather, both vehicular & negligent homicide. Even were he an adult, the death penalty doesn't apply here, & never does in a minor's case. But probation & counselling? That's absurd! & how did being wealthy play into it @ all. I've known plenty of exceedingly wealthy folk (a Catholic university; I was on scholarship, but others...), many grossly immature, but none that would condone this! Seriously, they're blaming it on his wealth, & giving him a break for that?! That's insane! Or am I misunderstanding this?

[DuckDodgers]

The defense was that he suffers from affluenza and that his wealthy upbringing did not allow for him to understand the consequences of his actions.  Mind you he had already been brought home by the police a year earlier when he and a 14 year old were found in a parked car and she was not clothed.  So he knows that he can't do whatever he wants.

[beardo]

Q. Are rich people better than poor people?

A. Yes, they are.

Q. Are rich people smarter than poor people?

A. Yes, they are.

Q. I disagree. There are plenty of poor scientists and starving professionals out in the world.

A. Well, if they were so smart they wouldn't be poor now, would they?

Q. But what about Brittany Spears, surely she is just a dumb blonde who got lucky. How can you say that she is better than anyone else?

A. Brittany Spears spent years of her life training to become a singer and had the wherewithal to get herself to the top. She made the right connections and had the drive to succeed, unlike you.

Q. What about all of the people who were just born into money. You can't really say that they are smarter or better than a poor person.

A. Yes you can. When parents reproduce they are really just making copies of themselves. The people born into wealth are copies of their parents who worked hard and succeeded. Children are a continuation of one's [successful] self

Q. But poor people don't really have the opportunity to make it. When you are born into poverty it's hard to get out of poverty.

A. That excuse may have worked in the middle ages, but these days there are endless opportunities available. One does not even need to go to college to educate themselves in a field. With the internet and free public libraries it is possible to self educate yourself in fields like technology, law, or business. There are countless self-educated techs and businessmen out there. Abraham Lincoln passed the Bar Exam without ever setting a foot into Law School, after all.

It is also possible to start a business these days without a heavy investment in capital. Internet businesses are regularly run out of bedrooms.

Q. But how can poor people get themselves out of poverty when they are holding a full time job?

A. If you are working from 8 to 5 and turn on the TV when you get home then you obviously do not have a drive to succeed. It's your fault that you are poor, clearly.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

That's nuts. I mean, granted, kids do choose interesting places for sex, so hey, oh well. But homicide? The paltry sentence he got is an insult to both the memory of those poor people, & their suffering families!