Affluenza: Are You Kidding Me?

Have you heard the latest insanity from our courts?  This example comes from the case of Ethan Couch, a 16 year old who killed four people and injured two others while driving drunk.  He had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood (of course, as a minor, any amount of alcohol is illegal.  He also had two other drugs in his system.  He was driving a pick up truck owned by his dad's company with stolen beer in it, and when his companions asked him to slow down, he sped up.  Certainly seems like some serious justice and punishment should be handed down, don't you think?  The prosecutor felt that 20 years in jail would be an appropriate sentence.  How about you?  Instead, Tarrant County Judge Jean Boyd sentenced him to no jail time, 10 years of probation and time in a longer term treatment facility.  The facility costs $450,000 per year, to be paid by the young man's wealthy parents.  It offers a number of amenities, including equine therapy and organic foods.  How does a judge come up with a sentence like this?
Well, this young man has parents with money, and they paid for a premier defense team. The team paid for a psychologist, Gary Miller, who testified that this poor kid suffered from "affluenza."  He said that his well to do parents gave their son whatever he wanted, including "freedoms no young person should have."  Are you kidding me?  Really, REALLY, affluenza!  Hey, at least this psychologist has guts.  But where is the head of this judge.  How could any judge look at the loved ones of those family members killed and hurt and say that justice is being served with a sentence like this?
Even if you buy this idea of affluenza being a reality, it doesn't hold any water in a criminal case like this.  First, just because his parents supposedly gave him no consequences for his bad behavior, there are plenty of other places, like school, where a child can learn there are consequences for bad behavior. Second, the judge is doing exactly what this psychologists is saying his parents did, give him no meaningful consequences for his now deadly behavior.
But we can all learn from this case in spite of the obvious insanity displayed by this judge.  Parents need to enforce consequences for the good and bad behavior of their children.  And the sooner the better.
Blessings,
Dr. Paul