Money can't buy happiness, but it can pay for murder. Judge Jean Boyle is facing controversy after her recent ruling sentenced a poor 14 year old African American boy to jail for ten years. This teenager attacked another teen by punching him in the face which ended up killing him. This teen will serve this jail time but his case sparked interest in recent media. Why would Judge Boyle decide to imprison a boy who killed one person and let the killer of four people walk away a free man? The answer, social status. 16 year old Ethan Couch was given a much lighter sentence for the killing of four people. Ethan is incredibly wealthy and even more irresponsible. Ethan decided to get his kicks one night with some underage drinking and driving. After stealing beers from Wal-Mart, Ethan, under heavy influence drove his pickup into four people on the side of the road. Ethan killed four people, two of which were stuck in a broken down car, and two Good Samaritans attempting to help them. Sergio Molina was in the back off this pickup, and is now paralyzed for life. Clearly, Ethan must be punished in someway. According to Judge Boyle, 10 years probation and a spa counseling sessions should do the trick. Ethan will go to a country club rehabilitation center. Ethan's parents will be paying the $450,000 annual cost in order to see Ethan "helped."
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| Ethan's New Resort |
Poor Ethan suffers from "affluenza" or "being spoiled." According to Judge Boyle, Ethan was spoiled from childhood and did not understand that getting drunk, taking drugs, (did I mention that?) and driving 70 mph in a 40 zone without a license is wrong. Ethan's case is living proof that there is a clear difference in justice for the poor and justice for those born into privilege. This is why people in Texas are calling for the removal of Judge Jean Boyle. If we swapped the backgrounds these teens came from Ethan would face much heavier charges from Judge Boyle. Being poor would give him a better awareness of what is wrong and therefore no way to justify his unlawful actions.
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| Ethan approaching the Courtroom |
This modern display of social class privileges reminded me of the Caste System. The treatment of these people was largely dependent on their backgrounds and perhaps race. This case shows that a form of the Caste System still exists today. While we certainly have made progress since the days of the Caste System your roots still play one of the strongest roles in your treatment in life. This source explains all this and in my eyes is one of the best examples of modern day societal rankings. After reading this I've noticed how social classes have divided people in our modern world. The rich and the poor seem to always have a struggle and I believe this source verifies this.
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Ethan: http://www.dallasnews.com/incoming/20131212-nm_ethancouch.jpg.ece/BINARY/w620x413/NM_ethanCOUCH.jpg
After reading all you had to say I'm not sure what you were going for with that title. The "Spoiling Your Kids Can Save Them" part is...sarcasm? Sad truth? But then to go and use the word "justice" to describe what happened, "Justice For The Wealthy", that left my middleclass blood simmering. Overall it was a very nice controversial blog and unique topic. I don't think anyone else would think to write about the Caste System, which isn't to say that this is not a very important topic today, your post proves it's relevance.
ReplyDeleteI thought your blog post was fascinating. You opened my eyes to a case that I wasn't aware of before. It's obvious that you did your background research on this topic and you made a clever connection to the caste system. Overall, you did a good job and your writing was very creative.
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