Teen Sentenced To 10 Years Of Church Attendance For Manslaughter
47 replies, posted
[quote]An Oklahoma teenager In Muskogee, Oklahoma, who pleaded guilty in the tragic death of another teen has been given an interesting sentence: 10 years of church attendance in exchange for not heading to prison. The defendant, Tyler Alred, 17, is not fighting a judge’s mandate, as his lawyer deems the decision both fair and appropriate.[/quote]
[url]http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/11/16/judge-sentences-teen-to-10-years-of-church-attendance-after-dui-manslaughter-conviction[/url]
Separation of church and state?
Nope,never heard of it.
He didn't say which church though.
[img]http://i1.cpcache.com/product_zoom/495435077/westboro_baptist_church_light_shirt.jpg?color=Natural&height=460&width=460&padToSquare=true[/img]
Well he was given a choice.
Makes sense, he probably didn't know "Thou shalt not kill" is a commandment.
I vote that we now suggest giving him ten years in a synagogue or mosque and see how well that goes down with the population.
Sure it's church but it's a hell of a lot better than a 25 to life in jail.
10 years of insanity, shouldnt have been drunk driving dirtbag
Does he have to stay awake the whole time he's there? If he does may god have mercy on his soul.
What the fuck, you guys? What's better? Being surrounding by Church goers for 10 years -- or being surrounded by other criminals, ie pedophiles, cons... a-and... Oh.
Oh no.
Pretty sure this violates cruel and unusual punishment.
Meh, this is just a form of counseling when you think about it. It's not a punishment per se, since people do go to church voluntarily.
The only problem I have with this type of sentencing is what if it's a gay black teen who plead guilty to robbery and is standing in front of the judge, does he get church instead of jail too? Somehow I don't think so, and he hasn't even killed anyone.
It doesn't specify the persons religion, which is kinda relevant.
So what do people who arent religious get to choose instead of being locked up?
This is pretty sad. Why not just give community service hours?
I hear people all the time say that they don't need religion to solidify their moral compass.
Well, this guys compass is obviously off, maybe this will help him get his compass straight since it obviously didn't happen otherwise.
[QUOTE=Pikachu231;39588098]Sure it's church but it's a hell of a lot better than a 25 to life in jail.[/QUOTE]Exactly, because 25 to life all you can do is turn to god like the rest of them. While 10 years to church, you can still turn away with your outside opinion.
[QUOTE]In addition to going to church, [B]Alred will need to wear an ankle bracelet to monitor his alcohol intake, speak at events about the negative results of drinking and driving, finish high school and go for counseling. Additionally, he will undergo drug tests[/B][/QUOTE]
The judge gave him more than just church, speaking at events would be (in a sense) similar to community service anyway.
It says he has to go to church but doesn't say he has to listen
Worse than the death penalty
[QUOTE=Arsonist;39589227]It says he has to go to church but doesn't say he has to listen[/QUOTE]
Maybe he has to "prove" himself to the Church too. Wouldn't that suck?
ordering people to attend religious services of any denomination is a massive violation of separation of church and state.
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;39588157]Meh, this is just a form of counseling when you think about it. It's not a punishment per se, since people do go to church voluntarily.
The only problem I have with this type of sentencing is what if it's a gay black teen who plead guilty to robbery and is standing in front of the judge, does he get church instead of jail too? Somehow I don't think so, and he hasn't even killed anyone.[/QUOTE]
According to the kid's lawyer, he already attends church weekly so a hypothetical situation like that wouldn't really apply.
What I'm saying is once you go down the road to special sentencing, unless you apply it to everyone equally then it is inherently an injustice.
As fulgrim asked, if you aren't religious what's your equivalent sentence if you were up in front of this judge? Sure, he could sentence you to church too, technically it's the same sentence, but in reality since you aren't religious it's not the same sentence.
That's the problem.
[quote]In addition to going to church, [B]Alred will need to wear an ankle bracelet to monitor his alcohol intake, speak at events about the negative results of drinking and driving, finish high school and go for counseling. Additionally, he will undergo drug tests[/B][/quote]
There's a lot more than just church.
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;39589530]What I'm saying is once you go down the road to special sentencing, unless you apply it to everyone equally then it is inherently an injustice.
As fulgrim asked, if you aren't religious what's your equivalent sentence if you were up in front of this judge? Sure, he could sentence you to church too, technically it's the same sentence, but in reality since you aren't religious it's not the same sentence.
That's the problem.[/QUOTE]
If you're an atheist, you'll be sentenced to attend ethics classes at the most boring university in the world.
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;39589530]What I'm saying is once you go down the road to special sentencing, unless you apply it to everyone equally then it is inherently an injustice.
As fulgrim asked, if you aren't religious what's your equivalent sentence if you were up in front of this judge? Sure, he could sentence you to church too, technically it's the same sentence, but in reality since you aren't religious it's not the same sentence.
That's the problem.[/QUOTE]
Most church "families" are there for support and guidance so I would imagine the judge saw this as a way to keep the kid in line throughout his young adult life.
I'm sure there's non-religious alternatives that could work as a support group in a similar way. Obviously there's always circumstances to each case which is why we have judges in the first place. I'm not necessarily agreeing with his decision but I can see the intended purpose.
[editline]14th February 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=ShaunOfTheLive;39589627]If you're an atheist, you'll be sentenced to attend ethics classes at the most boring university in the world.[/QUOTE]
At least in church you get to stand up and stretch every now and then :v:
[QUOTE=CabooseRvB;39587894]He didn't say which church though.
[img]http://i1.cpcache.com/product_zoom/495435077/westboro_baptist_church_light_shirt.jpg?color=Natural&height=460&width=460&padToSquare=true[/img][/QUOTE]
Better yet, join the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Satan]Church of Satan[/url].
That's a massive infringement on the separation of church and state. He drived drunk, he deserves the jail time.
And even if you're on the "he's just a teen he didn't know what he was doing" side of the story, well, then he should have been offered a not-religious related offer. I'm really uncomfortable if you can dodge the law thanks to a religious judge using his beliefs to decide of his judgements, or even have anything religious in laws itself.
[quote]10 years of insanity[/quote]
[quote]Pretty sure this violates cruel and unusual punishment. [/quote]
[quote]Worse than the death penalty [/quote]
oh fp
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