Words from the web
Two girls, ages 17 and 16, were recently charged with underage drinking after they called state police near Gettysburg for a ride home. Some say the girls should have been let off with a warning since they didn’t try to drive home or try to get a ride home with a stranger. Others say they shouldn’t have been drinking in the first place and deserve to be charged. What do you think? Should they have been cited or just warned?
“They need to be told: ‘Yes, it is good you called the state police, but it is against the law to be drinking and you need to be punished.’ Young people get away with a lot of destructive things and are not taught respect and rules.”
“Sentence them to helping others. Being responsible is the lesson to learn here.”
“I think 200 hours of community service and AA meetings everyday sounds right to me.”
“They had the right idea in theory, but their execution was poor. Next time use the Uber app.”
“People want punishment because, ‘That’s what the law says.’ Well folks, the law also says the magistrate can drop the case.”
“What is the point in punishing these girls? What does it serve? How does it make our community better? Nothing. These girls were drinking and because of some archaic law that says you can drive a two-ton weapon, buy porn and join the military but you can’t drink — it is considered illegal.”
“They did the right thing. They got out of a potentially bad situation. They called the right people, and we don’t want to scare other young girls from reaching out for help. The biggest concern I have is who gave them the alcohol and what are the police doing about it?”
“Why didn’t they call their parents? They may have got yelled at or punished, but they wouldn’t have got a fine and a record.”
“Justice requires punishment. Grace chooses mercy to restore law and order. This is why we want wise judges unrestrained by mandatory minimums and such.”
“Goodness knows that the state troopers never let a drop of alcohol in their mouths when they were teenagers. What hypocrisy!”
“Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.”