Teen Who Drove Drunk Gets 30 Days for Fatality

Did anyone see this in the Post?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/29/AR2008052902273.html

I was curious about everyones thoughts on this...

 

i posted mine on the article but will copy them here:

kudos for the victims family for taking such a high road amidst a devastating tragedy. shame on our "justice" system that slapped the wrists of a kid who did what thousands of our kids have the potential to do as well! this was a golden opportunity to show a no tolerance for underageed drinking AND for DUI, and to send a message to teens that they can RUIN THEIR LIVES by making huge mistake. instead, they are taught that if they are the "right kind of kid" who makes a FATAL boo boo, they get a second chance. had she been a D student, or male, would she have received such pity???? punishment should fit crime. a boy in Atlanata spent years in prison for a consensual act with a girl, and this party animal gets 30 days and community service for killing a model citizen. disgusting.

 

That's hardly a punishment for killing someone and I agree sends a horrible message to teens that driving while intoxicated and even killing someone isn't a big deal.

 

i think it's ridiculous. having lost 2 dear friends to drinking and driving over the years, i don't have a lot of tolerance for it. you make a choice to drink and drive, so you should be fully accountable for any action that's a result of that decision. this teen is getting a slap on the wrist. at a minimum they should have required her to dedicate the next 5 years talking to kids about not drinking and driving in addition to her "sentence."

 

This should not be surprising given how we treat adults who drink and drive. Society has chosen to make this socially acceptable.

 

Well I think in Maryland just recently a illegal immigrant got 10 years for a DUI and killing another person with a car while under the influence. The law is not equally and fairly administered.

 

This is bull crap and the judge should be admonished for such an unequal application of justice. There are mistakes and then there are consequences.... this does not even smell close to fair.....

 

She may be "book smart", but she didn't use her head by deciding to drink and drive. I don't care if you're valedictorian of your class, it doesn't excuse you for making bad judgments by drinking and driving. My son is 26 and to this day - if he is out with his friends, they always make sure they have a designated driver. This is ridiculous!

 

I don't know the intimate facts of this case, other that what I read in the Washington Post, however; for those who are not aware, the victim's family members are Broadlands residents and I sincerely hope that the vultures that usually post in this forum respect the family member's views (as stated in the Wash Post article) and use a respectable tone from here on out. Remember, this girl isn't the only one affected; the family members are too and I know for a face they DO read and post to this forum.

 

She should have been thrown in prison for what she did. If we trust our 16 and 17 year olds to make adult decisions behind the wheel, they need to be subject to adult consequences. If we can't hold these young drivers accountable for their actions, then we need to raise the driving age to 18.

 

As far as the family of the victim (who sung in my church choir), maybe they feel just knowing she killed someone is punishment enough for the girl. I don't know that, I'm just saying that is a lot for a young girl to bear.

That said, when I read in the paper about the high school girl who got caught driving without a license and then committed suicide I rolled my eyes at the idea that the girl who killed someone is managing but the girl who merely drove illegally was so devastated she killed herself. What's that all about?

P.S. - this doesn't excuse the drinking or the driving after drinking, don't get me wrong!

 

Thanks Steve for pointing that out... I had not read the full article and it looks like the actual sentencing guidelines were pretty well set, there was not much flexibility since she had been tried as a juvenile. But I completely agree that something seems off with the fact that she gets a sentence similar to someone who for the first time commits grand larceny. The scale of justice still does not seem proportional.

And words can not adequately express the grief for the victim's family. This is a true tragedy all around.... and hard to separate the anger of the act, from the emotional toll that it takes on both families. But outside the circle of emotion - this still does not send the message of an appropriate scale of punishment - 30 days and felony probation for the loss of a life....

 

24around, this is a really good point. Very few of us know the specifics of the case or the kids and families involved. It's sad for all involved. We all will have (and are entitled to) our opinions, but given that we are talking an issue that affects some of our neighors who are going through a nearly impossible-to-imagine time in their lives, I hope posters here will choose to be both compassionate and respectful.

Also, this post is not intended to condone drunk driving. That is not my intention.

 

neither family controlled the court's failure to the right thing, which would have been making the punishment fit the crime, not fit the poor excellent student who committed it. what are the odds that it was the first time she drank underage, drank and drove...? slim. it's just the first time she KILLED someone doing it. ((just going off of stats- i don't know the girl and am not going after her personally, just pointing out the reality of teen drinking.))

the court had a responsibility to ALL of us in this county to deter other teens from partaking in this common practice, to show that the punishmnet for drinking and driving is no joke. apparent lt in this county, it is. we WARN drivers of when and where we will do sobriety checkpoints. we slap ppl on the wrists for taking a life.

my heart goes out to both FAMLILIES, but that girl better lead a life like mother teresa since she gets an undeserved second chance at life unlike her victim. guilt and remorse aren't even CLOSE to enough.

 

well said Redon... but we have not even scratched the surface in terms of understanding what this really means. I can not help but stop and think of some of what this means for that poor woman and her family.... all the things in her life that are gone, destroyed, lost forever. And yes, I imagine that I would do things a little differently and make the girls family pay restitution by civil action. Money can not replace a person of course but think of the sacrifices that Kathleen Becker's family will have to make... Rehabilitation for a Teen is not the answer in this case. As her own family said, she is a good kid that just made a mistake. She does not need rehabilitation. The type of mistake she made deserves A LOT more sacrifice on her part and her family's part.....

ok, I think I got more than my 2 cents in on this. The Becker family should really think about this some more.

 

Rene, we can't appropriately punish the adults, why should we start with the teenagers. Remember, they usually learn their behaviors from "us".

Also, teenagers DO NOT learn from others experiences, that is just fact. Send a teeanger away for years and most likely (statistics) they will come out of prison hard and bitter and a likely habitual criminal.

 

so throw just punishments out the window? no, t8, we don't agree here. an honor student in Atlanta had a consenual adult act with another teen and WENT TO PRISON. yes i know race played a role in that but the bottom line is the CRIME should be what determines the PUNISHMENT, not the sex, race or social status or the criminal wen we are talking about a death. a death brought on by underaged binge drinking and driving. a death that cold easly happen AGAIN b/c the slap on the wrist shows other teens that the consequences won't be all THAT bad.

i would sign a petition to remove that judge from the bench in a heartbeat, especially WHEN- not IF- this happens again.

 

My lack of posting about a punishment doesn't mean that I am against it. But where do you draw the line?

Is someone being killed by a drunk driver any different than someone being killed by a driver who ran a stop sign or a driver who was distracted by being on a cell phone? In these scenarios the drivers all made conscious decisions that could lead to a wreck and they would certainly not receive any harsh punishment. Driving stupid is driving stupid, drink or sober.

The laws are in place and need to be followed whether they are right or wrong. The charge, I do believe was Involuntary Manslaughter, key word "involuntary". Let's save the HARSH punishments for those who truly deserve it and not a basically decent teenage girl who made a horrible mistake.

And again, do you really think if they threw the book at this particular girl it would influence any more than a handful, if any other teens? Teens are immortal, "it" will never happen to them!

 

you stated an unfortunate truth about teens- we agree there. and i don't think the book should be THROWN at her but i do believe she needs a harsher punishment than 30 days and 500 hours- about 62 eight-hour days of community service. what does SHE learn from her punishment? guilt and remorse are the HUMAN consequence- she needs more than what she got for a legal consequence. nothing to take her life away like the poor kid in Atlanta, just something JUST.