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Also because it's worth it you have to check out Cenk's reaction to this;CSMonitor wrote:Rich kid gets probation for drunk-driving deaths. His defense? 'Affluenza.' (+video)
A wealthy Texas teen with blood alcohol levels three times the legal limit killed four people helping a stranded motorist. His defense said he suffered from 'affluenza,' the failure of his parents to set limits.
The case of a rich Texas teenager who received probation but no jail time after killing four people in a drunk driving car crash in June has sparked a new debate about money, power, and punishment after the teen’s defense team argued he was the victim of “affluenza,” or the failure of his wealthy parents to set boundaries.
Judge Jean Boyd accepted Ethan Couch’s guilty pleas for killing four people and injuring nine, but the punishment – most likely a lengthy stay at a $1,200-a-day California drug treatment facility – brought widespread outrage because it seemed to suggest that the judge bought the defense theory “that because he has gotten off without serious punishment in the past, he cannot be seriously punished in this case either,” as Jaquielynn Floyd of the Dallas Morning News writes Thursday.
Judge Boyd made no further comments on her ruling, and has said she won’t comment on the case because of ethical restraints. She had previously said she will not run for reelection to her seat.
Judges in Texas are allowed to consider “diminished culpability and great prospects for reform” when a defendant is juvenile. According to the liberal political blog Think Progress, sentences for intoxicated manslaughter in Texas usually range between five and 15 years in prison.
Prosecutors pointed out that there are drug and alcohol treatment programs in prison, but the judge noted in court comments that the facility where he’s currently housed – a California treatment facility that offers equine sports, yoga and massages – would be a better fit.
The defense team argued that the sentence was just. They said if Couch had been sentenced to the maximum, 20 years in jail, he most likely would have been released within a few years. Under this sentence, Couch will remain “under the thumb” of the justice system for seven years, and will be resentenced to 10 years in jail if he breaks the conditions of his probation.
But that logic didn’t appease the families of the victims, who said they had forgiven Couch, but expected him to see the inside of a prison cell for his actions.
Couch’s blood alcohol levels were three times the legal limit when he slammed at 70 miles per hour into four people trying to help a stranded motorist near Ft. Worth, the result of which was a crash scene that first responders likened to a plane crash. The teenager had had several other run-ins with the law, as well, none of which led to any consequences at home, a defense psychiatrist testified.
"Money always seems to keep Ethan out of trouble," Eric Boyles, who lost his wife and daughter in the crash, told the Dallas-Fort Worth Fox affiliate. "This was one time I did ask the court for justice and for money not to prevail."
The prosecutor in the case, Richard Alpert, warned the judge that allowing the family's wealth to once again insulate the teenager could have tragic consequences.
“There can be no doubt that he will be in another courthouse one day blaming the lenient treatment he received here,” Mr. Alpert told the court.
The sentencing touched a raw nerve in a country that occasionally fails to uphold its founding principles of equal treatment for all. A May survey by the Pew Research Center reported that 66 percent of Americans say social and economic inequality has increased in the United States.
It’s of course not unusual for defense attorneys to blame a guilty person’s upbringing for criminality, but in most of those cases “the perps were poor kids from rough neighborhoods … [who] went to the penitentiary because the judge didn’t buy the blame-it-on-the-folks defense,” Ms. Floyd writes in the Dallas Morning News.
Judicial lenience has also been in the news lately, given the case of a Montana judge who in August gave a former teacher a 30-day jail sentence for the rape of a 14-year-old girl who subsequently killed herself.
In his testimony in the Couch case, the defense psychiatrist, Dr. G. Dick Miller, said Couch’s parents gave him whatever he wanted and gave him “freedoms no young person should have," meaning that the teenager essentially raised himself.
“This kid has been in a system that’s sick,” Miller added. “If he goes to jail, that’s just another sick system.”
Now, the Couch family is facing $20 million worth of civil lawsuits resulting from the crash.
http://youtu.be/WsfZlGYRWWs
'Poorpox' lol
Also in the above clip Anna nails it; it's not that we're against rehabilitation over incarceration, it's just that there is no way in hell that it would be the approach taken on a poor kid in a similar situation.
Oh, and in case you were wondering; the term is complete and utter bullshit according to The Guardian;
Expert defense for teen convicted of intoxication manslaughter: 'affluenza'A psychologist argued that the 'entitled' 16-year-old Ethan Couch should not be sent to prison for killing four pedestrians
"Affluenza," the term used by a psychologist to argue that a North Texas teenager from a wealthy family should not be sent to prison for killing four pedestrians while driving drunk, is not a recognized diagnosis and should not be used to justify bad behavior, psychologists said Thursday.
The term was popularized in the late 1990s by Jessie O'Neill, the granddaughter of a past president of General Motors, when she wrote the book "The Golden Ghetto: The Psychology of Affluence." It has since been used to describe a condition in which children — generally from richer families — have a sense of entitlement, are irresponsible, make excuses for poor behavior, and sometimes dabble in drugs and alcohol, explained Dr Gary Buffone, a Jacksonville, Florida, psychologist who does family wealth advising.
It was also used by an expert defense witness in the trial of 16-year-old Ethan Couch, who after confessing to intoxication manslaughter in the fatal accident avoided what could have been a sentence of up to 20 years in prison when district judge Jean Boyd gave him 10 years of probation.
"Essentially what he has done is slapped this child on the wrist for what is obviously a very serious offense which he would be responsible for in any other situation," Buffone said. "The defense is laughable, the disposition is horrifying ... not only haven't the parents set any consequences, but it's being reinforced by the judge's actions."
While prosecutors argued for the maximum prison sentence for the 15 June accident, his attorneys said the boy needs rehabilitation, not prison, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Psychologist Gary Miller testified that Couch grew up in a house where the parents were preoccupied with arguments that led to a divorce and that he suffered from "affluenza."
But Buffone said in a telephone interview Thursday that the term wasn't meant to be used as a defense in a criminal trial or to justify such behavior.
"The simple term would be spoiled brat," he said.
Miller told the judge that the boy's father "does not have relationships, he takes hostages." He said Couch's mother was indulgent: "Her mantra was that if it feels good, do it."
Prosecutor Richard Alpert argued in court that if the boy continues to be cushioned by his family's wealth, another tragedy is inevitable.
Although Couch's case was handled in juvenile court, he has been identified publicly by the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.
Dr Suniya Luthar, a psychologist who specializes in the costs of affluence in suburban communities, told the Associated Press that her research at Colombia University in New York has shown that 20% of upper middle-class adolescents believe their parents would help them get out of a sticky situation at school, such as being caught for the third time on campus with a bottle of vodka. The judge's sentence reinforces that belief.
"What is the likelihood if this was an African-American, inner-city kid that grew up in a violent neighborhood to a single mother who is addicted to crack and he was caught two or three times ... what is the likelihood that the judge would excuse his behavior and let him off because of how he was raised?" Luthar asked.
"We are setting a double standard for the rich and poor," she added, noting the message is "families that have money, you can drink and drive. This is a very, very dangerous thing we're telling our children."
Authorities 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, was speeding and had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, according to trial testimony. His truck slammed into the four pedestrians, killing Brian Jennings, 43, Breanna Mitchell, 24, Shelby Boyles, 21, and her mother, Hollie Boyles, 52.
The judge decided the programs available in the Texas juvenile justice system may not provide the intensive therapy the teen could receive at a $450,000-a-year rehabilitation center near Newport Beach, California, that the parents would pay for.
Scott Brown, the boy's lead defense attorney, said he could have been freed after two years if he had drawn the 20-year sentence. Instead, the judge "fashioned a sentence that could have him under the thumb of the justice system for the next 10 years," he told the Star-Telegram.
