Affluenza

[Masa_1964]

WoW... they finally discover it

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affluenza

 

Nice way to use money...NOT :/

 

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/

 

Masa_1964

[Chuckun]

Heard about this.. Two words: f*cking ridiculous.

 

An after-thought: judges can be bought by rich-kids' daddies.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Chuckun

[docwarren]

Being in DFW, we have been saturated with this in our news. Judge is retiring after this term and does not give a f*&k. Sentenced a low income juvenile to 10 years for joy riding in a car in the past 2 years. Clearly playing favorites based on socio-economic background.

 

Juvenile courts do NOT have to follow the Constitution or any laws like adult courts do. Outcomes are at the discretion of the presiding judge/appointee/mayor assigned.

 

A co-worker took her 14 year old son to court because he fought back against a bully after months of being messed with. The judge in her case called her son a punk and said he will never amount to anything. She went ballistic that a judge could address kids this way only to find out later that, unlike adult courts, the juvenile judges can pretty much do anything they want.

[TulsaGeoff]

Unfortunately this kind of thing happens all the time. People that hire good attorneys usually always get off with lesser punishments than people that have bad attorneys/public defenders. It is usually not to this extent thought. Affluenza lol... ridiculous 

Edited December 18, 2013 by TulsaGeoff

[nani*]

Every day is born a new term to define a type of 'disease', but the reality is that this has always happened. You can be rich and famous and you're not free to be depressed, everything is in one's mind not in the pocket.

Of course we live in a consumer society, some may spend more than others, but all want to have the best amenities and our children to have the same as classmate or neighbor.

 

How parents educate their children is the basis of everything.

[RedBaird]

I saw reports that the 16-year old "lived alone in a mansion provided by his parents".  I found a picture of the home in a DailyMail.uk page.  I would say the house is larger than most peoples' homes, but calling it a mansion is probably an exaggeration.  However, allowing their 16-year old to live alone unsupervised on their money probably makes them criminally liable and certainly civilly liable for his actions.

 

I do have a problem with the parents' of his passengers suing the boy's family because the trio was reported to have just stolen beer from a Walmart store.  The injured friends were reportedly riding in the cargo bed of the truck, which is a common technique for beer thieves:  back the truck up to the store,  a thief or two goes into the store, the driver stays at the wheel with the engine on, the thieves run out the store with the beer and jump into the back of the truck and the driver guns the engine to get away.  They were reportedly doing 70 mph in a 40 mph zone.  The injured sons were hurt during a criminal enterprise.

 

The source of this picture:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2525676/Inside-luxury-rehab-center-affluenza-teen-Ethan-Couch-attend.html

 

 

 

 

<-- Insurance against the source page disappearing

[Diggity]

Hate to say it, but in my studies in college I found documentation that states laws were created back in the early days for the main purpose of protecting the rich.  I personally think this case is so outrageous, but it is a reality check to remind us all that the laws do exist to protect those that have something from those who do not taking or damaging it....just a thought.  I will try to find the document that states why laws were created and post the link for viewing pleasure.

 

Diggity 

[Joku_.]

Two points come to my mind:

 

First, not to be a hater once again, but America and Great Britain use common law as their legal system (almost all other countries in the world use law that is based on a written law, that derives from Mostesquieu's separation of power). Common law, in general, is much much more prone for these kinds of rulings, because of the power stored to single judge's ruling. The point that Doc made is one of the most aggravated examples of it.

 

Secondly, one could easily argue that in fact affluenza is a problem driven from a disease. After all, if someone has never been made to follow any rules, it is absurd to assume that he would be able to follow some. The more valid question is how can we as a society and as a decision maker’s influence that these potential risks don't come as a reality. After all, it is not that long time ago when affluenza as a problem was widely a reality, even though it was not called with that exact term. You only have to go back in time for little over 100 years when a son of a wealthy or influential person could kill any 'normal person' without having to fear any repercussions. Of course, I am not saying any of this justifies the ruling concerning the verdict I am merely pointing out how we as a society are also the culprits in this story. After all, it us who are letting things slip in this direction. As of all, as Nani pointed out, those parent are merely trying to produce the best living conditions according to their realization, which we are accepting with little resistance.

[RedBaird]

The boy's parents sound like sociopaths whose cases in their "more than 20 criminal and traffic offense claims on their records" were dismissed or settled with fines, courts fees and restitution.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2524872/Millionaire-parents-affluenza-teen-20-arrests-citations.html

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 Wikipedia describes the Daily Mail as a " British daily middle-market^%5B2%5Dtabloid newspaper" , in the class of "..best known American mid-market papers are USA Today, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the New York Daily News." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Mail

 

Wikpedia redirected "sociopath" to "Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)" and described it as "characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for, or violation of, the rights of others. There may be an impoverished moral sense or conscience and a history of crime, legal problems, impulsive and aggressive behavior." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder

 

A family of Trolls?