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Townsend gets 30 days in jail
Orlando Sentinel ^
| March 29, 2006
| Amy C. Rippel
Posted on 04/01/2006 3:16:30 PM PST by andyk
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To: andyk
If it was a hit and run, I'm even more disgusted.
To: jdm
Girl next door,Teacher,well to do,highly educated, but irresponsibly lousy driver.
22
posted on
04/01/2006 4:00:19 PM PST
by
samantha
(cheer up, the adults are in charge! Soldier in Bucket Brigade Reporting for Duty.)
To: andyk
Yep, the link worked this time.
I cannot understand how those children's lives are only worth thirty days.
It is a crazy world.
23
posted on
04/01/2006 4:12:19 PM PST
by
teenyelliott
(Soylent green should be made outta liberals...)
To: teenyelliott
Thirty days for murdering two babies? WTF? It was an ACCIDENT.
Should Laura Bush should be in prison too?
To: MindBender26
Or an Illegal Immigrant.
"We don' need no stinkin' laws".
25
posted on
04/01/2006 4:13:22 PM PST
by
radar101
(The two hallmarks of Liberals: Fantasy and Hypocrisy)
To: IRememberElian
Should Laura Bush should be in prison tooI don't know what you are talking about with that, but going 45mph through a red light is not an accident. A car is a deadly weapon, and should be treated as such. 45mph toward an intersection, with pedestrians? How long would you have to be distracted from driving to NOT know you were approaching an intersection?
She pleaded guilty to homicide, and she gets one month for killing two children?
I am not saying she did it on purpose. But she did kill those children, and one month is insane.
26
posted on
04/01/2006 4:18:06 PM PST
by
teenyelliott
(Soylent green should be made outta liberals...)
To: teenyelliott
27
posted on
04/01/2006 4:34:50 PM PST
by
stylin19a
(I never put my foot in my mouth...I shoot that sucker off long before it gets anywhere near my mouth)
To: andyk
To: IRememberElian
It was an ACCIDENT.I was going to post the same thing. However, after reading the hysterical calls for blood postings by so many self rightous, nose in the air, perfect assholes that never ever did anything wrong in their life, I decided it wasn't worth the effort to talk with these MADD mother, retribution types.
God bless you and good luck.
29
posted on
04/01/2006 4:40:53 PM PST
by
metalurgist
(Believe in my God or I will kill you.! The cry of all religious extremists.)
To: metalurgist
hysterical calls for blood postings by so many self rightous, nose in the air, perfect assholes that never ever did anything wrong in their life...MADD mother, retribution types
LMAO!
30
posted on
04/01/2006 4:54:26 PM PST
by
andyk
(Go Matt Kenseth!)
To: metalurgist
Agreed. She's not going to re-offend.
Look, from a jurisprudential standpoint she didn't murder anyone. She didn't mean to kill those people. That's why we have statues like vehicular homicide and the like.
Terrible? Yes. Reprehensible? Sort of. She ran a red light. I've done that too. The difference was the results, and the legal system recognizes that: I got a ticket; she's a convicted felon. But the underlying act was the same.
What it comes down to is your philosophy on why we punish people? If the goal is to punish people so that they won't re-offend, then this sentence is probably appropriate. I highly doubt she will, in the future, run a red light and accidentally kill people. I'm not even sure that's possible; can you recommit an accident? If we punish primarily to deter others from participating in that conduct, this case is more complicated because of the innocuousness of the underlying act. I think everyone would agree that 30 days in jail is a severe punishment for running a red light. If that were the punishment, no one would run red lights. But here we're not punishing that, we're punishing running a red light and accidentally killing people. That confuses things and makes the entire deterrent effect questionable. No one wants to accidentally kill people (even people who would, on purpose, kill other, certain people). So I don't see what a more severe punishment does here ("It's not so bad if you run a red light, but just don't do it at an inopportune time"). Or maybe we punish people to make us feel better that we've put this person in jail? If that's your theory, that's fine, just admit to yourself that that's why you want the more severe punishment.
Having said this, it's, in my opinion, fairly obvious that this is a complicated issue. Legal scholars still fight about stuff like this, whether we should incarcerate people in order to make society feel better. That said, I hope this shed some light on why she probably got the deal she got from the state. This is rough to prove in front of a jury. Is it different if the light was green but she was putting on makeup? In that situation isn't there an argument she should have been watching the road and she took on that responsibility when she got behind the wheel? What if the light was yellow?
I'm not sure the state could have convicted, so they gave her the deal, and she, probably wisely, took it.
31
posted on
04/01/2006 5:18:18 PM PST
by
Grn_Lantern
(Let's go to work...)
To: andyk
Is she any relation to the Townsend/Kennedys?
32
posted on
04/01/2006 5:20:02 PM PST
by
YourAdHere
(Bradypalooza. Available at Amazon.Com)
To: andyk
"she will then be on seven years' supervised probation with the Department of Corrections, which can be transferred to Leon County." Not a chance she gets through seven years without f'ing up again; at least enough to invoke a hearing to revoke her proby.
To: andyk
Locally we had a race-car-driver-in-training run over a mentally retarded boy who was off the roadway pushing his bike up a hill. The driver got fined $1500 and spent 40 days of a 45 day sentence in jail.
His father ran over a pedestrian when he was about the same age. He didn't even get the jail time, just court costs.
Runs in the family, I guess.
34
posted on
04/01/2006 5:34:13 PM PST
by
HighlyOpinionated
(In Memory of Crockett Nicolas, hit and run in the prime of his Cocker Spaniel life, 9/3/05.)
To: SouthernFreebird
Do you think she started out that day, "I think I will kill two babies today?"
Or do you think she cries herself to sleep, knowing the nightmares she will face, everyday?
35
posted on
04/01/2006 5:36:34 PM PST
by
patton
(Once you steal a firetruck, there's really not much else you can do except go for a joyride.)
To: Grn_Lantern
Excellent post.
I would also assume there will be a Civil case against her at a later date. Her being found guilty helps that prospect.
36
posted on
04/01/2006 6:01:37 PM PST
by
headstamp
(Nothing lasts forever, Unless it does.)
To: teenyelliott
This being Florida, I'm surprised she wasn't tried for capital murder(and she should have been.)
To: stylin19a
Okay, well, my opinion is that a wreck involving two vehicles is a tad different than running over pedestrians in a crosswalk.
Thanks for the link. I had never heard that.
38
posted on
04/01/2006 6:27:53 PM PST
by
teenyelliott
(Soylent green should be made outta liberals...)
To: Grn_Lantern
Good post, but it won't mollify FR's Old Testament Retributionists.
39
posted on
04/01/2006 6:28:38 PM PST
by
Mr. Jeeves
("When the government is invasive, the people are wanting." -- Tao Te Ching)
To: darkangel82
"This being Florida, I'm surprised she wasn't tried for capital murder(and she should have been.)"
If you accidentally kill someone will you commit suicide?
40
posted on
04/01/2006 6:30:44 PM PST
by
RHINO369
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