Affluenza gives wealthy excuse to defy laws

Last June, 16-year-old Ethan Couch, with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.24, three times the legal concentration of an adult, and loaded with THC and Valine, veered off the road into cars and people in Fort Worth, Texas. The crash killed four people. Two teens in Couch’s car were severely injured.

In court, defending psychologist G. Dick Miller argued that Ethan Couch, son of Cleburne Metal Work CEO Fred Couch, was a product of “affleunza” and that his actions were a result of his parents teaching him that wealth buys privilege. 

Believing the argument, the judge deferred Ethan from a sentence of a maximum of 20 years in jail to 10 years in a rehabilitation center at Newport Beach, Calif., that will cost the family almost half a million dollars annually. He will eat gourmet and bask in the California sun. All he did was kill four people.

Not surprisingly, the judge's decision drew outrage from across the country. The ruling allowed laws to be inconsequential to the affluent since they use affluenza as an excuse to bypass the most major parts of any punishment. 

Affluenza was originally used to describe a sickness one felt as a result of stress, overwork, waste or indebtedness caused by doggedly pursuing the American Dream. Now, because of this case, the word has been corruptedly twisted to represent a disregard of the law because of a spoiled, over privileged upbringing. 

As Dr. Suniya S. Luther asked, “If this was an African-American, inner-city kid that grew up in a violent neighborhood to a single mother who is addicted to crack and he was caught two or three times … what is the likelihood that the judge would excuse his behavior and let him off because of how he was raised?” 

As a response, California Assemblyman Mike Gatto introduced bill AP 1508, which prevents “the notion that an affluent or overly permissive upbringing prevents a defendant from fully understanding the consequences of criminal actions” in all of California. 

This bill would be a huge step forward for societal justice in California, where no should be able to use their wealth to bypass punishments. 

It’s not like the Couch case was a one-of-a-kind case. Both of Ethan’s parents, Fred and Tonya Couch, according to a report from Mail Online, have accumulated over 20 traffic and criminal offenses dating back to 25 years ago, though neither of them has ever spent jail time. 

Additionally, the use of affluenza as a successful defense would give attorneys a tool that they could use to argue successful potential cases in the future if this law isn’t passed. California has a bigger population and a higher per capita income than Texas, so the use of affluenza would lead to more wealthy criminals getting away with their crimes.

The passing of AP 1508 would be heralded as good news because then the wealthy in California would be more likely to face the same punishments as everyone else. It would be a good idea if other states adopted bills and laws similar to AP 1508.

As Gatto said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, “The Texas case left a lot of people wondering how someone could kill four people and not do any jail time. I think this will change that landscape a little bit by saying this will not be tolerated in California.”