Perspective
Jan. 23, 2014
Do we need an affluenza vaccine?
The proposed "affluenza" bill regarding lenient sentences is misplaced hysteria, giving the public a further false sense that judges are out of whack and criminals continue to run loose. By Dana Cole
A few weeks ago, a Texas drunk driving case created a media firestorm when the affluent teenager behind the wheel - who had killed four pedestrians - was sentenced to mere probation and rehab instead of the 20-year prison term prosecutors sought. The judge's argument in imposing this obviously too-lenient sentence? That the 16-year-old defendant, Ethan Couch, had been allowed to do pretty much whatever he wanted by his parents - and thus the real...
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