Is Being Rich A License To Kill?
Have you heard the story of Ethan Couch, a 16-year old teenager who got away with DUI and a quadruple murder because he was too rich?
According to the top-notch lawyers hired by Couch’s affluent parents, the boy suffered from too much privilege and not enough discipline. They labeled his situation as “Afluenza,” a fictitious condition in which a person’s wealth makes him incapable of understanding the consequences of his actions.
In other words, Ethan Couch has a psychological problem for being too rich.
He was so misfortunate to be spoiled by indulgent parents that he could not comprehend the difference between right and wrong.
Worse still, the Texas Judge, Jean Boyd, actually bought the Afluenza argument (or was literally bought himself) and sentenced the young, irresponsible murderer to ten years probation rather than the twenty years of jail time that the prosecution asked for.
The court ruling might as well be considered as a slap in the face of justice and a slap on the wrist of the killer of four.
This is clearly a case of double standards. In America, there is a distinct form of justice for the wealthy and the poor.
Imagine Ethan Couch was black and poor; would Judge Boyd have bought the argument that he was too poor to distinguish right from wrong? Of course not. He would have given him prison time as, in fact, he did last year when he sentenced a black teenager to 10 years in prison for punching another person.
“Rich, white kids have ‘Affluenza,’ poor, black kids go to prison,” wrote Dr. Boyce Watkins, the author of the lecture series, The 8 Principles of Black Male Empowerment.
An 18th century French author, Jean de la Fontaine, wrote, “Depending on whether you are powerful or miserable, court judgments will make white or black.”
If he lived today, maybe he would write, “Depending on whether you are black, white, poor, or wealthy, the court judgments will make you innocent or guilty.”
If you can pay lawyers to come up with fancy arguments like “Afluenza” to get away with a DUI and quadruple murder, then what kind of message does that communicate to the public about the American justice system?
Maybe Ethan Couch is innocent after all; maybe the ones who deserve prison time are his parents. Investigations show that Ethan frequently through huge pool parties filled with alcohol in his mansion when he was home alone.
It appears Ethan’s parents also suffer from this rare disease called “Afluenza” which really is, as defined by late-night show host Jay Leno, the “illness of people who are too affluent.”
