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Affluenza??

ksinger

Ideal_Rock
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Joined
Jan 30, 2008
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Whatcha bet that if he was a poor or middle-class white kid or a black kid at ANY income level, that we wouldn't be reading this article? I hardly know where to start with the numerous lenses through which this can be viewed, but I would start with some psychologists really need to be slapped. AFFLUENZA? Seriously? Mental illness is one thing, simply being morally stunted is quite another. Sorry his environment was less than ideal, whose isn't?? Disgusting.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/12/12/ethan_couch_affluenza_texas_teen_spared_prison_time_in_deadly_drunk_driving.html
 
Oh lordy. That article made me clench my teeth and my heart race. I'd really like to punch some people right now.
 
packrat|1386875210|3573032 said:
Oh lordy. That article made me clench my teeth and my heart race. I'd really like to punch some people right now.


I am so glad that my computer stands between me and Packrat, who is seriously feisty today!

Going to read this article now....
 
Four people dead, and no jail time at all? That is seriously effed up.
 
so the cure for bad behavior induced by a lack of consequences is... more of the same lack of consequences? :confused:
 
A former co-worker of mine who is originally from Flint, MI posted this on Facebook earlier and said pretty much what you said, Ksinger.
It's so full of wrong I can't even wrap my brain around it.
 
It sounds like the judge may have profited from the parents' alluenza.
 
Lucky kid, he gets to go inpatient and be catered to hand and foot, while getting years of therapy.


As for the victims families, they will have to suffer through this thing called LIFE and provide their own therapy, if they are lucky.






I don't get this at all. :cry:
 
All else aside, I like the idea that his parents are paying for his incarceration, no matter how cushy it may be, instead of taxpayers. I like the idea that he has a chance of becoming normalized through therapy rather than serving a prison sentence and being released potentially more effed up and a danger to others than he already is. I like the idea that his parents have been deemed responsible via their lack of parenting skills and now the victims' families can sue them for whatever reason a lawyer can come up with.
 
The mind BOGGLES. Poverty is rarely accepted as a justification for criminal activity, but IMMENSE WEALTH is? Cats and dogs living together, anarchy in the streets ....
 
Wow, unbelievable!
 
This is so wrong! Sickening! My heart breaks for the families who lost loved ones and had to watch this miscarriage of justice! :nono:
 
Just plain infuriating!
 
Matata|1386883746|3573113 said:
All else aside, I like the idea that his parents are paying for his incarceration, no matter how cushy it may be, instead of taxpayers. I like the idea that he has a chance of becoming normalized through therapy rather than serving a prison sentence and being released potentially more effed up and a danger to others than he already is. I like the idea that his parents have been deemed responsible via their lack of parenting skills and now the victims' families can sue them for whatever reason a lawyer can come up with.


And sue they are. There were five or six suits filed before this hearing started. And if I remember right, the little s.o.b. was driving a 3/4 ton pickup from the dad's business, so some people are going after the business and the mom and dad.
This is a local story for my newspaper, so I've read everything since the start.
 
So Texaskj, what is your perspective since you've been following it for so long and are privy to more info on it than the rest of us? Is it as awful as it seems? Is there some relationship or patronage between the judge and the young man's family?
 
VRBeauty|1386876141|3573046 said:
so the cure for bad behavior induced by a lack of consequences is... more of the same lack of consequences? :confused:
Exactly. I am in awe and disgusted by this. It is the grossest misjudgment.
 
Matata|1386883746|3573113 said:
All else aside, I like the idea that his parents are paying for his incarceration, no matter how cushy it may be, instead of taxpayers. I like the idea that he has a chance of becoming normalized through therapy rather than serving a prison sentence and being released potentially more effed up and a danger to others than he already is. I like the idea that his parents have been deemed responsible via their lack of parenting skills and now the victims' families can sue them for whatever reason a lawyer can come up with.


I'm with you on everything you said. I"m so sorry for those 4 victims but I'm not sure jail time for a 16 year old is the right thing either.
 
I am torn. My first reaction was horror. There has to be consequences for actions. Period. That's how he got into/caused this tragic situation in the first place. After reading Matata's thoughts I reconsidered and see where she is coming from but I still do not agree with the verdict. He needs to face real consequences for what he did. 4 people are dead. The people who loved them will have their lives forever altered.

It is not justice for the victims and their loved ones for him to be able to go on and live a happy and carefree life after he does the rehab. 16 years old is not a baby and IMO the "affluenza" excuse is BS. If he was poor and had a tough childhood and did the same thing he would be in jail right now. I just cannot believe this verdict. Sure he needs rehab etc but he also needs to face real consequences IMO. He can do both yanno? It's not just one or the other.
 
missy|1386945022|3573569 said:
I am torn. My first reaction was horror. There has to be consequences for actions. Period. That's how he got into/caused this tragic situation in the first place. After reading Matata's thoughts I reconsidered and see where she is coming from but I still do not agree with the verdict. He needs to face real consequences for what he did. 4 people are dead. The people who loved them will have their lives forever altered.

It is not justice for the victims and their loved ones for him to be able to go on and live a happy and carefree life after he does the rehab. 16 years old is not a baby and IMO the "affluenza" excuse is BS. If he was poor and had a tough childhood and did the same thing he would be in jail right now. I just cannot believe this verdict. Sure he needs rehab etc but he also needs to face real consequences IMO. He can do both yanno? It's not just one or the other.

I see this inequity all the time and could not agree more with you, Missy. Well said.
 
texaskj|1386908995|3573377 said:
Matata|1386883746|3573113 said:
All else aside, I like the idea that his parents are paying for his incarceration, no matter how cushy it may be, instead of taxpayers. I like the idea that he has a chance of becoming normalized through therapy rather than serving a prison sentence and being released potentially more effed up and a danger to others than he already is. I like the idea that his parents have been deemed responsible via their lack of parenting skills and now the victims' families can sue them for whatever reason a lawyer can come up with.

And sue they are. There were five or six suits filed before this hearing started. And if I remember right, the little s.o.b. was driving a 3/4 ton pickup from the dad's business, so some people are going after the business and the mom and dad.
This is a local story for my newspaper, so I've read everything since the start.

My MIL lives nearby this as well, and I recall her head nearly exploding from her body when this made news originally. Absolutely disturbing.
 
minousbijoux|1386914644|3573413 said:
So Texaskj, what is your perspective since you've been following it for so long and are privy to more info on it than the rest of us? Is it as awful as it seems? Is there some relationship or patronage between the judge and the young man's family?

minous,
To me, this is another case of two people who had no business reproducing. This kid didn't stand a chance and he's fallen right into the spoiled-rotten stereotype down here and taken it to the nth degree. It's even more awful than what most of the country has heard.

"Authorities have said the teen and friends were seen on surveillance video stealing two cases of beer from a store. He had seven passengers in his Ford F-350 pickup, was speeding and had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, according to trial testimony. His truck slammed into four people standing near a disabled car on Burleson-Retta Road, killing Brian Jennings, 43, Breanna Mitchell, 24, Shelby Boyles, 21, and her mother, Hollie Boyles, 52." --from an AP story

There is no known relationship between the judge and the family. I did read a comment that the judge must have been bribed. She is retiring in 2014, so she doesn't have to worry about being re-elected.

We've also reported he had Valium in his system. Two of the passengers in the truck are in really bad shape. The first responders to the scene said it looked like an airplane crash. One of the women killed was cut in half. The judge kept saying it was his fault, not the parent's, but I can't agree. The truck he was driving was from the father's sheet metal company. It wouldn't surprise me if the business didn't end up going under after all the lawsuits are finished. If the people were smart, they would make sure the business kept going so most of any future profits went to the families and not to this guy. I don't think this kid needs a $450,000-a-year facility to straighten him out, he needs some scared-straight therapy.

That's my short answer, which isn't so short.
This country has a horrible track record for juvenile offenders and those with mental illness.
 
I predict he will violate his 10 year probation and will wind up in jail eventually.
 
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