English Current Event #1

Affluenza Defense

Madison Gray. The Affluenza Defense. newsfeed.time. CNN, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
                                         
                                          

Carrearas, Iris. Ethan Couch. Photograph. cbsnews.com. CBSnews. 18 Dec. 2013. Media. 12 Jan. 2014.

In this article we read about a 16 year old boy, Ethan Couch, who was on trial for vehicular manslaughter. Not only did he kill four people but he stole beer from a Walmart and seriously injured two other people in the car with him. Ethan could have gotten up to a possible 20 years in jail but he got no time in jail. The judge, Jean Boyd, felt that he is suffering from Affluenza meaning, in my own words, that he is so rich that his parents paid to get him out of trouble and now he doesn't have to deal with any serious consequences.

In class I am reading a book about a young girl who commits suicide. In this book she sends out tapes to the people who she feels made her come to the decision to end her life. The people who got these tapes were never the same again and though she takes full responsibility for committing suicide the people who got the tapes lives are forever changed. I relate this to this event because I feel that people need to take responsibility for their actions.In both of these cases people lost their lives.

I feel that though he got sentenced to 10 years on probation that still wasn't enough. I understand that he is young but I still feel that he should have done some time in jail. People need to understand that with every action there is a consequence and the fact that he doesn't have to deal with his because he's too rich to tell wrong from right is ridiculous. This event affects me because it allows more dangerous drivers on the road.

The central idea of the article is that as long as you have a ton of money to throw away then you can do whatever you want and get away with it. “She fashioned a sentence that could have him under the thumb of the justice system for the next 10 years,” (Scott Brown). I feel that this quote really reinforces the idea of paying your way out of your problems because as long as he gets a minor consequence then it's overlooked. “Ultimately today, I felt that money did prevail, If [he] had been any other youth, I feel like the circumstances would have been different.” (Eric Boyles). I couldn't agree more with this statement and it just goes to show how corrupt our justice system is. It's not about fairness anymore it's about who can throw out the most money.