Second Chances?

[Bryce]

WARREN, Mich. – A man who was out on bond for a previous intoxicated driving incident ran a red light while drunk and killed an innocent driver in Macomb County over the weekend, prosecutors said.

He is charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death, driving with a suspended license causing death, attempted carjacking, possession of a controlled substance, and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated -- third.

The first two charges are 15-year felonies, the attempted carjacking is a five-year felony, the controlled substance charge is a four-year felony, and the driving intoxicated charge is a 1- to 5-year felony.

Benson was arraigned at 37th District Court and given a $500,000 bond, cash/surety. He must wear a GPS tether and avoid alcohol and drugs, if released.

Let me get this straight. While out on bond for a second drunk driving charge, you get intoxicated, run a red light and kill someone and then try and carjack someone to get away and yet you have an opportunity to be released on bond?

System is broken.

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WARREN, Mich. – A man who was out on bond for a previous intoxicated driving incident ran a red light while drunk and killed an innocent driver in Macomb County over the weekend, prosecutors said.

He is charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death, driving with a suspended license causing death, attempted carjacking, possession of a controlled substance, and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated -- third.

The first two charges are 15-year felonies, the attempted carjacking is a five-year felony, the controlled substance charge is a four-year felony, and the driving intoxicated charge is a 1- to 5-year felony.

Benson was arraigned at 37th District Court and given a $500,000 bond, cash/surety. He must wear a GPS tether and avoid alcohol and drugs, if released.

Let me get this straight. While out on bond for a second drunk driving charge, you get intoxicated, run a red light and kill someone and then try and carjack someone to get away and yet you have an opportunity to be released on bond?

System is broken.

The system is too lenient. Someone like that presents a clear danger to society. But you see people with as many as 8 (!) DUI's out running around... I mean at some point the person is broken... I don't know if the law hamstrings their ability to keep people in (how many times have you heard a judge wish they could go further when giving the maximum?) or what but it's crazy how often this happens.

[Bryce]

Maybe Judges should be held accountable for malpractice in the same manner Doctors are?

Shouldn't the judge that decided to let this miscreant out on bond be held liable to the family of the innocent who died?

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Maybe Judges should be held accountable for malpractice in the same manner Doctors are?

Shouldn't the judge that decided to let this miscreant out on bond be held liable to the family of the innocent who died?

The thing you quoted says IF he is released. I doubt the guy can make that kind of bond which was set that high on purpose to prevent his release. But I'm saying the law may tie the hands of a judge. There are guidelines they have to follow for these things... If there's a beef it's with the guidelines more than the judge.

[km1125]

Maybe Judges should be held accountable for malpractice in the same manner Doctors are?

Shouldn't the judge that decided to let this miscreant out on bond be held liable to the family of the innocent who died?

I'm not sure why folks don't associate the actual judge's name every time one of these stories surfaces. Their name should be continually pegged to these bad decisions, especially if they are in an elected position.

[craig11152]

I have become a proponent of progressive surgical amputation as a duel form of punishment and deterrence.
Details of my plan are hazy but if a guy like that had no hands and no feet it would be hard to get drunk and drive.

If an armed bad guy lost all his fingers, maybe keep some thumbs, and maybe lost a foot it might put a H*** damper in his criminal career.

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I have become a proponent of progressive surgical amputation as a duel form of punishment and deterrence.
Details of my plan are hazy but if a guy like that had no hands and no feet it would be hard to get drunk and drive.

If an armed bad guy lost all his fingers, maybe keep some thumbs, and maybe lost a foot it might put a H*** damper in his criminal career.

Thanks Ghangis… or is it Atilla?

[Mega Hertz]

If anyone wants to discuss the "broken system", send me a PM about my wife's ex-husband. Dude is a habitual offender, gets probation for identity theft, gets a THIRD OWI (while on felony probation and without a valid license) and still walks free.

Oh, BTW, he's in arrears AGAIN for non-payment of child support. This is about the 10th time in 5 years we've done this dance. The only time it gets paid is when mommy and daddy whip out the checkbook and bail him out.

I'm more than willing to discuss the broken system. Let me know.

[MWmetalhead]

I agree completely with km1125.

We need to know the judges or magistrates who make these rotten decisions.

Maybe Judges should be held accountable for malpractice in the same manner Doctors are?

I've been pleading for a rollback of qualified immunity for years.

[bmw]

Maybe Judges should be held accountable for malpractice in the same manner Doctors are?

I've been pleading for a rollback of qualified immunity for years.

Judges don't fall under the doctrine of qualified immunity; rather, theirs is absolute. Do you really want to go down the road of opening up judges to criminal or even civil liability for the rulings they issue? The problem with judges specifically isn't that they are immune; rather, the problem is that the boards that review judges for judicial misconduct rarely take action against judges who actually engage in said misconduct.

I also disagree with "rolling back" qualified immunity for those who are entitled to it. I have first-hand experience with this - 7 years worth. The problem isn't that certain officials are entitled to qualified immunity; rather, the problem is that the procedure for determining said immunity is severely broken as the court system can take several years to make such a determination before even the most preliminary matters such as discovery take place in a civil suit.

[bmw]

The system is too lenient. Someone like that presents a clear danger to society. But you see people with as many as 8 (!) DUI's out running around... I mean at some point the person is broken...

This is one of those rare instances where I agree with you 100 percent. We can complain about the system all we want, but short of putting habitual offenders to death (or dismembering them as Craig suggests), we as a society still have to deal with them - whether its in the streets, in jail, or somewhere in the legal system. This is more of a cultural problem than a system-is-broken problem. Until we figure out why the hell our culture is churning out so many of these kinds of people, we aren't going to fix the problem. Throwing their asses in jail is only a band-aid to the larger problem (that said, we certainly to need to be incarcerating a lot of these people for longer periods of time than we are).

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The system is too lenient. Someone like that presents a clear danger to society. But you see people with as many as 8 (!) DUI's out running around... I mean at some point the person is broken...

This is one of those rare instances where I agree with you 100 percent. We can complain about the system all we want, but short of putting habitual offenders to death (or dismembering them as Craig suggests), we as a society still have to deal with them - whether its in the streets, in jail, or somewhere in the legal system. This is more of a cultural problem than a system-is-broken problem. Until we figure out why the hell our culture is churning out so many of these kinds of people, we aren't going to fix the problem. Throwing their asses in jail is only a band-aid to the larger problem (that said, we certainly to need to be incarcerating a lot of these people for longer periods of time than we are).

I sincerely think there is a connection between shutting down mental institutions (it used to be much easier to go the the funny farm) and the perceived rise in crazy people and people who cannot function out causing mayhem. The idea was that the outpatient services could handle it... don't be so mean to these people... they deserve freedom too... I'm not so sure...

[craig11152]

I sincerely think there is a connection between shutting down mental institutions (it used to be much easier to go the the funny farm) and the perceived rise in crazy people and people who cannot function out causing mayhem.

I agree. When I was a lad the Ypsilanti State Hospital at one point housed more than 4,000 patients. Several of my elementary school classmates had parents who worked there.

The idea was that the outpatient services could handle it... don't be so mean to these people... they deserve freedom too... I'm not so sure...

This is where old Craig's plan comes into play. We can offer these repeat offenders a chance at a degree of freedom minus enough appendages to insure they can't continue their life of crimes against society.

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I sincerely think there is a connection between shutting down mental institutions (it used to be much easier to go the the funny farm) and the perceived rise in crazy people and people who cannot function out causing mayhem.

I agree. When I was a lad the Ypsilanti State Hospital at one point housed more than 4,000 patients. Several of my elementary school classmates had parents who worked there.

The idea was that the outpatient services could handle it... don't be so mean to these people... they deserve freedom too... I'm not so sure...

This is where old Craig's plan comes into play. We can offer these repeat offenders a chance at a degree of freedom minus enough appendages to insure they can't continue their life of crimes against society.

I may come around to this after all...

[km1125]

...
This is where old Craig's plan comes into play. We can offer these repeat offenders a chance at a degree of freedom minus enough appendages to insure they can't continue their life of crimes against society.

As long as you're giving them a choice, then I suppose everything should be on the table. That's the way it worked with the vaccines, right?

If the end up with hacked off appendages, do they automatically qualify for SS Disability, or are they banned from that?