NFT: Affluenza teen's parents do not have to pay full rehab fee

meant to include the link

Quote:

Ethan Couch's parents will be charged $1,170 a month for his treatment at the North Texas State Hospital in rural Vernon. That amount would cover less than two days of treatment, which costs $715 a day, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported (http://bit.ly/1qoRLts ).

Wow...that is a huge discount, eh? I hope that the civil lawsuits will bankrupt these asshole parents...but I'm sure that probably isn't likely.
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Should have been dismissed for letting this crazy defense into the courtroom. A poor upbringing is not a legal excuse to vehicular homicide. Maybe you can consider it in the penalty stage (I wouldn't), but as a matter of law, the jury never should have been allowed to hear it.

The kid gets to kill 4 people and not go to jail because he is rich, then someone else picks up the tab for his "rehabilitation". I pray that this family gets sued into abject poverty but we all know that isn't going to happen. What a great justice system.

If being filthy rich is a defense why can't being abject poor and a poor upbringing be a defense? Can we maybe get povertyfluenza and rehabilitation for all the people born into bad situations? Maybe in the future only people in the middle class can be held accountable for crimes.

The kid was in a car, insurance has their back on this one.

and he killed 4 people. Insurance will help to an extent but, I doubt they're going to cover everything 100%. His parents are going to lose money in a civil suit.

If there's any justice in the world, an elderly person runs down and then backs up over the scumbag piece of shit one day.

but courts do routinely take poverty and other disadvantages into consideration when deciding on sentences.

Rich kid kills four people, gets 10 years probation and has to go to a resort for 'rehab'. Change his skin color or his family's wealth status or both and he's doing hard time.

Yeah, the 'justice' system in America is so fair and unbiased.

we are infuriated, and rightly so, by the asinine affluenza defense, but the fact is that around the country juveniles routinely get little or no time in detention or jail for committing serious crimes unless they are well-known to the juvenile court and most juvenile justice systems have virtually no regard for the victims.

In comment 11617254 Dunedin81 said:

Quote:

but courts do routinely take poverty and other disadvantages into consideration when deciding on sentences.

How often would a poor person get a cushy vacation in an insanely expensive rehabilitation centre and no jail time vs a rich person who committed the same crime. I think it's kind of a two-tiered justice system.

offices in an election.

IIRC, many judgeships in New York State are elective offices. I bet most people haven't got a clue as to who the judges they elect are or what those judges stand for.

In the end, the electorate is responsible for the judges they elect or for electing the politicians who appoint them.

Elections have consequences.

If you don't like how your state or munincipality is run, get involved in politics, learn the issues, study the candidates and vote based on what you learn.

In comment 11617375 Patrick77 said:

Quote:

In comment 11617254 Dunedin81 said: Quote: but courts do routinely take poverty and other disadvantages into consideration when deciding on sentences. How often would a poor person get a cushy vacation in an insanely expensive rehabilitation centre and no jail time vs a rich person who committed the same crime. I think it's kind of a two-tiered justice system.

The juvenile detention centers in some parts of the country are much, much nicer than the homes of a lot of the detained juveniles. Club Fed is one thing, but this idiocy had a lot more to do with the offender's age than it did class. Affluenza makes for a better headline though.

the prosecutors can ask that a 16-year-old be tried as an adult, for a felony, in which case a "cushy" juvenile detention center wouldn't apply. The judge would have to rule on that. Isn't this the case in Texas?

the majority are voluntary transfer, and despite the burden some J&DR judges are very reluctant to transfer felonies unless the juvenile is a frequent flier. The attached gives a basic primer.
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