If you don't remember, all he did was drive drunk, kill 4 people, then flee the country (with his mommy's assistance).. and blame it all on the fact that his family wealth never allowed him to learn right from wrong... he is out of jail after about 2 years...
Ethan Couch is a very convenient target By Molly Roberts April 3 at 3:25 PM Email the author
Ethan Couch, the Texas teen who drunkenly drove his Ford F-350 into a stranded commuter and a group of good Samaritans in the summer of 2013, didn’t hear “no” much as a kid. Now, the whole country can’t stop saying it to him. Couch has become a convenient vehicle for observers to express dissatisfaction with everything they have the vague sense is wrong with society — without actually grappling with any of it.
Couch first earned nationwide disdain when an expert witness in his trial testified for the defense that he suffered from “affluenza,” a decidedly nonmedical malady wherein his wealth had supposedly left him incapable of comprehending the consequences of his actions. To make matters worse, a judge sentenced Couch to a stay in a California rehab center offering “equine therapy” and cooking classes. To make them worse still, after a viral video surfaced of Couch violating the terms of his probation playing beer pong, he and his mother ran off to Mexico, where an extended manhunt ended with their capture at a condo in Puerto Vallarta.
It was this last episode that landed Couch, finally, in jail for a two-year sentence that ended on Monday. And as the ankle-braceleted ex-convict exited the parole office, online observers erupted once again in fury at justice unserved.
Couch’s case, as it turns out, isn’t as simple as it suits the impassioned Internet to believe. For one thing, lawyers said after Couch’s trial that his punishment wasn’t unusual for a DWI manslaughter by a minor and first-time offender. And though affluenza was a cringily cute term for so tragic a context, Couch’s parents do bear some of the responsibility for him turning into the type of young man who could, amid a scene of horrific carnage, allegedly tell a witness, “Just remember my name and I’ll get you out of all of this.”
But because none of that excuses or erases what happened that June night, when a 16-year-old Couch hopped in his truck with a body alcohol level over three times the legal limit for an adult, it’s no surprise that the boy became a symbol for a slate of societal ills: the reckless entitlement of kids these days, the hazards of privilege run rampant in a country where there’s too much that money can buy, the inequities of our criminal justice system.
A comparison circulating on Twitter encapsulates the outrage. Couch, a wealthy white male, served 720 days for killing four people and then fleeing the country, when a black woman in the same state was just sentenced to five years in prison for voting while on probation — and she didn’t even know she couldn’t cast a ballot.
Critics are right that this is wrong. And some have devoted time to probing why it happened: Perhaps it’s the racial disparities in sentencing, or perhaps it’s ones based on wealth, too. Perhaps it’s a too-aggressive approach to voting violations, or a not-aggressive-enough one to juveniles driving drunk. Perhaps it’s all that, and more, put together.
Yet for others of us, there’s no need to think so hard when we can express amorphous anger about Couch and feel we’ve done our duty as engaged citizens. It’s easy to let ourselves off the hook by putting Couch on it — and not simply to avoid delving into the intricacies of the legal system. Parents worried they might have coddled their own children on a lesser scale can cry out against the Couches and assuage some of their concerns with self-righteousness. Those of us with a general sense that our privilege allows us to wander unburdened through the world can now ask for this young man to face consequences in our stead.
The word “affluenza,” as it turns out, came into coinage more than half a century before Couch, as a critique of consumerist culture. Those who came up with the term said that our obsession with material acquisition had alienated us from real feelings for real people. At Couch’s trial, the term was twisted into an individual affliction to suit the defense team’s needs — but initially, the fault was a collective one. This change is convenient, too. If we condemn careless detachment in Ethan Couch, we don’t have to worry about finding it closer to home.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Hopefully the time served has taught the lad a lesson.
.....
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Same equality as on the other thread. No word of outrage from 40. And if you say anything it'll be because you love one race more than another.
Hey folks don't forget minorities have it made in this country. MAWA
Some cheese to go with your whine?
Kid did 2 years and is on probation now. I have seen drunks drivers get far less.
As far as the minority thang that is still bothering you, you said what you said and I called you on it. If you are now saying you didn't mean it, well ok then. Apology accepted.
Same equality as on the other thread. No word of outrage from 40. And if you say anything it'll be because you love one race more than another.
Hey folks don't forget minorities have it made in this country. MAWA
Some cheese to go with your whine?
Kid did 2 years and is on probation now. I have seen drunks drivers get far less.
As far as the minority thang that is still bothering you, you said what you said and I called you on it. If you are now saying you didn't mean it, well ok then. Apology accepted.
Gonna be some knee slappin' at the trailer park tonight! Score one for white people.
Oh brother, I hate to be the bearer of reality to your little world, but I'm never mad at any post you ever write. I'll admit to thinking it rude to lie about what I write but as I said, knowing what a good troll you like to be I accept that's just part of who you are and what you do.
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
Oh brother, I hate to be the bearer of reality to your little world, but I'm never mad at any post you ever write. I'll admit to thinking it rude to lie about what I write but as I said, knowing what a good troll you like to be I accept that's just part of who you are and what you do.
He always gets super powers at the beginning of the month. smh
On Nov. 8, 2016, Crystal Mason got out of work and drove through the rain to her home in Dallas. She walked through the door and tried to settle in for the evening. But her mother delivered something akin to a scolding.
"You have to go vote!" Mason's mother said, according to her attorney, J. Warren St. John, who spoke to NPR.
Mason grabbed her keys and set out for her local precinct. When she got there, she found out that her name was not on the voter roll so she was given a provisional ballot. An election worker stuck around to walk her through the form. She used her current license and her current address, St. John says.
After she cast her vote, she went home.
"She had a good faith belief that she could vote," St. John says. "She would have never voted if she didn't know she could vote."
The next time she thought about that night she was being arrested.
She was detained by sheriffs in February 2017 at the Dallas County Courthouse while meeting with her probation officer.
Mason, 43, is a convicted felon. She was previously convicted for committing tax fraud for clients through her tax preparation business.
And by casting a ballot – even a provisional one — in the general election, she had broken a state law that prohibited residents from voting until their sentences have been fully served. That includes parole, probation or supervision.
Mason had been on a supervised release after spending three years in prison. For a time, she was even working for the state of Texas, St. John says.
Should It Be Easier To Vote? Americans Are Deeply Divided By Party POLITICS Should It Be Easier To Vote? Americans Are Deeply Divided By Party On Wednesday, she was sentenced to five years for voting illegally. She contends that she was never informed of the state's voting restrictions on felons.
"She didn't understand!" St. John said. "She was never told she couldn't vote. Not by a district judge. Not by anyone at the half-way house where she lived after she got out. Not by the probation officer."
But Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson said in a statement that despite "multiple safeguards in place," Mason "still made that choice."
According to a CNN report, "She signed and affirmed a document which clearly stated that (1) she was prohibited from voting due to her status as a convicted felon still serving her term of supervision, and (2) she would be committing a second degree felony if she lied about her status," Wilson said. "The judge found her guilty of illegal voting beyond a reasonable doubt."
Despite Little Evidence Of Fraud, White House Launches Voting Commission POLITICS Despite Little Evidence Of Fraud, White House Launches Voting Commission President Trump has insisted that millions of people voted illegally in the presidential election despite little evidence, and other states have taken action against voter fraud.
In Nebraska, two men accused of voting multiple times in the presidential election could face two years in prison and a fine $10,000. A former mayor in Florida found guilty of voting fraud received four years of probation and 400 hours of community service hours.
In recent years, Texas has passed laws that have stepped up penalties for voter fraud, extending prison terms and increasing fines, according to John Powers, who specializes in voting rights at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
The disenfranchisement of felons varies state to state. NPR reported that a federal judge said Florida's process of restoring voting rights of felons who completed their sentences was "nonsensical" and in violation of the First and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.
Mason is currently out of jail on an appellate bond that is pending outcome of an appeal, says St. John.
There is a danger that people like Mason face on election day, Powers says. "When you have an election and poll workers are trying to get through long lines of voters, frequently they don't have the requisite training and experience to deal with complicated legal scenarios. The loser in all of this can be the voter."
Hopefully the time served has taught the lad a lesson.
Probably not.
And the lesson here is that you can't hide behind your mothers apron in Mexico to avoid a vehicular manslaughter sentence. But after being caught, only rich white trash can still buy their way out of it.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.
Hopefully the time served has taught the lad a lesson.
Probably not.
And the lesson here is that you can't hide behind your mothers apron in Mexico to avoid a vehicular manslaughter sentence. But after being caught, only rich white trash can still buy their way out of it.
really, cause it seems that poor Mexican illegals get out of it all the time in CA and sanctuary cities around the country. weird.
I think its ironic that the white kid fled to Mexico and was still caught and then held accountable (even if at a lesser extent than we would like) - yet illegal immigrants come here, commit crimes, and we give them room and board and a defense team.
Hopefully the time served has taught the lad a lesson.
Probably not.
And the lesson here is that you can't hide behind your mothers apron in Mexico to avoid a vehicular manslaughter sentence. But after being caught, only rich white trash can still buy their way out of it.
I also wonder, how upset would you be if someone called someone black trash? asking for a friend
