Thank you for using rssforward.com! This service has been made possible by all our customers. In order to provide a sustainable, best of the breed RSS to Email experience, we've chosen to keep this as a paid subscription service. If you are satisfied with your free trial, please sign-up today. Subscriptions without a plan would soon be removed. Thank you!
There are two Americas. There is the America where people are held responsible for their actions. There is also Broward County Florida America, where cash paid in a civil trial is a get out of jail free card in a criminal trial.Ryan Levin has a long history of substance abuse and traffic violations in Illinois. In 2006 he struck a Chicago Police Officer with his car and fled, causing a high speed chase on the Kennedy Expressway. He is currently on probation for that case.
In 2009 Levin was driving his $120,000 Porsche in Florida. He lost control of the speeding vehicle, jumped a curb, and struck and killed two pedestrians. The two were British business and family men.
At first, Mr. Levin denied he was driving the car and tried to blame a friend. Eventually the truth came out. He was arrested and faced up to 45 years in prison.
Mr. Levin is the scion of a wealthy family in the Chicago area. The best attorneys were hired. They did what they were paid to do- keep the poor little rich kid out of prison. The attorneys paid an undisclosed sum of money to the victim's families to settle their lawsuits. The victims agreed the sum was sufficient enough that in return they would not demand prison time.
Then, in a deal that stretches credulity, LeVin was allowed to plead guilty and be sentenced to house arrest in sunny Florida. "The need for restitution does outweigh the need for prison," Broward Circuit Judge Barbara McCarthy said.
We should know how much LeVin paid the victims. The sum should be made public. The public has a right to know how much two human lives are worth. The public has a right to know how much it costs to blend a civil trial and a criminal trial into a pass.
Other people in similar situations pay restitution, or their insurance companies pay, and they are still sentenced to prison.
The judge disregarded the prosecution request for a 10 year sentence in exchange for the cash deal. The judge disregarded Mr. LeVin's long previous record, including his probation in Illinois.
This is check book criminal justice. The lawyers did their jobs, crafting the deal. Mr. LeVin paid cash in a civil case to avoid prison in a criminal case. So, how much are the lives of two men worth? Inquiring minds want to know.
There may be some small bit of justice in the end. Illinois wants LeVin back here. They are charging him with violating his probation. They want to revoke his probation and send him to prison.
Mr. LeVin could be extradited to Illinois and be imprisoned for injuring the Chicago Police Officer. He will never be punished for killing two men.
Mr. LeVin's crime was not just against the two men or their families. Homicide- any criminal homicide- is a crime against society as a whole. Society demands punishment.
Except in the America of Broward County Florida.
Source: Chicago Tribune
06 Jun, 2011
--
Source: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/middle-class-guy/2011/06/how-much-is-life-worth.html
~
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com
Sharing is Sexy !
About the Author
0 komentar: