A Drunken Ride
The article, "A Drunken Ride" brings to light many questions about the legal system of our country and its apparent leniency. In the article, a boy makes the decision to drive intoxicated with four other friends in his vehicle. As the night progresses he ends up in a collision and as a result, many people loose their lives. One of the biggest issues here is to what end do we need to punish our children when they make mistakes. Are their minds still open to change? Are they able to recognize that they made a mistake and make amends, or do they need to be punished long into their adult life for a mistake that was made while the law still considered them unable to make decisions for themselves? The law does not recognize a person as being able to make a major decision for themselves until they reach the age of majority, which in most states is 18, however, more and more minors are committing so-called adult crimes, like Tyson Baxter. In light of recent events in the media, it is long past time to take a long hard look at the punishment phase for the criminal justice system. Sometimes the system can be overly harsh and abusive, while at others it can be far too lenient. Where is the medium found?
All seven passengers got into the vehicle willingly, knowing that the driver himself was intoxicated. If he knew he would be going somewhere, then he should have been responsible enough not to drink. Emotionally, the cost may never be totally known. In fact, one such child was only identifiable due to the size of his shoes. He should have realized that the other occupants of his vehicle were under his care, and anything he did would affect them. " Baxter had said, but he should have realized that he wasn't in control of anything. He was also placed under court jurisdiction until he turned twenty-one. The parents of the slain children wanted Baxter to receive the maximum penalty, wanted him to be prohibited from graduation, and they also wanted him to be placed in custody before Christmas day. Not only on the survivors of his joyride, but also on the parents of the teenagers who died, and almost everyone in his community. Some of these were so bad that even their parents would have been hard pressed to identify the remains of their children. Identification was also difficult due to the fact that many of the teenagers had fake ID's. Other classmates who realized that they weren't invincible, or that they would no longer be able to go hang out with a friend because he was dead. Again, does this make any of the passengers responsible for what happened?One last item to note on the collision itself is the report that the passengers were rocking and swaying the vehicle, which would make a top heavy, SUV like the Chevrolet Suburban hard to handle. How can a person ever compensate for that? How can a person ever make up for the wrongs they inflicted when tragically ending the lives of so many, the lives of people who had so much to live for, like Christopher Avram who was a premedical student, or Robert Schweiss, another college student, both having so much to live for. There is absolutely no way that Baxter could ever make up for the wrongs that he committed that fateful night.
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