Young people do stupid things. I am not saying to let them off completely, but felony charges and tens of thousands for a fake ID is simple bullshit, when every illegal in the USA is doing the same thing and causing far more damage and NOT being punished for it.
I guess I should have just said that I agree; and not adding “that there is no sense of proportion in our legal system”. One of the biggest problems in our society however is that everyone believes that they are above the law. Obviously “illegal immigrants” and other protected classes are above the law. The rest of us not so much.
Of course, you read in the article that none of the students who were charged with felonies actually were convicted of felonies. “Outcomes varied, but out of 45 cases all charges were either dropped or reduced to misdemeanors.” The kid the article was about “had to pay $270 in legal fees as well as make a $100 donation to a local charity”. Somehow this seems more like a slap on the wrist these days.
Around here if you get caught driving in the carpool lane without someone else in your car... that rings up to $550. To me it seems like correcting the course of an underage drinker boozing it up until he passes out on a college campus is just as serious of an offense.
“It’s meant to be a slap on the wrist,” Lloyd said. “They did the crime and that’s our way of telling them not to do it again without convicting them of a felony.”