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No jail in 'affluenza' case: Does sentence lift chances of rehabilitation?

A Texas judge reaffirms her decision to send teenager Ethan Couch to a treatment facility rather than to prison for killing four while driving drunk. During trial, the defense had argued that Ethan, from a wealthy family, exhibited poor judgment because of 'affluenza.'

Closing a case that ripped at sensitivities about privilege and punishment, Texas Judge Jean Boyd on Wednesday reaffirmed her decision to send a reckless rich kid, 16-year-old Ethan Couch, to a tony treatment facility instead of to state prison, for killing four people while driving drunk.

Wednesday鈥檚 final sentencing hearing came after victims' families made repeated pleas for Ethan to face more serious repercussions for his actions. Last summer he was found to be three times over the legal alcohol limit when he crashed a heavy-duty truck into a group of people helping a stranded motorist by the side of the road, near Fort Worth, Texas. Four people died, and two were seriously injured.

The case, especially Judge Boyd's acceptance of the defense鈥檚 argument that Ethan was incapable of making good decisions because he had been a coddled, spoiled rich kid whose parents set no limits, sparked ridicule and anger 鈥� and, in some quarters, allegations of unequal justice under the law for the affluent.

"It's hard to object to parents who do everything in their power to help their son,鈥� said Daniel Filler, a law professor at Drexel University鈥檚 School of Law and an expert in juvenile justice, via e-mail. 鈥淏ut this is the true nature of 'affluenza': Only wealthy parents can pay to divert their child from a run-down jail into a fancy in-patient rehab facility."

Some psychologists also questioned the judge's sentence, noting that 鈥渁ffluenza鈥� is not an accepted medical term.

On Wednesday, Ethan鈥檚 lawyers thanked the judge and blamed 鈥渕edia distortions鈥� for the angry response to her ruling, apparently discounting complaints from victims' families that Ethan once again got a pass from those responsible for him. Prosecutors had requested a 20-year prison term; instead, Ethan will be under a 10-year suspension, which means that a further slip could mean a spell in prison.

Still, some experts have defended the decision, saying the judge simply followed an accepted axiom of Texas law 鈥� that when minors commit unintended crimes, judges should take into consideration their greater likelihood of rehabilitation than in the case of an adult.

鈥淲hat you鈥檙e seeing is pretty common in the sense that, when there is a lot of harm, victims tend to want a lot of punishment. But if you look at how crimes are graded, the most serious crimes are the ones that are intentional 鈥� and that doesn鈥檛 necessarily coincide with people鈥檚 emotional responses,鈥� says Sandra Thompson, director of the Criminal Justice Institute at the University of Houston.

Texas has begun treating juveniles differently than in the past, because research shows that harsh punishment of young people who had no intention of hurting others is counterproductive, Ms.聽Thompson adds. In that sense, Ethan鈥檚 family wealth may not have played a role in the judge鈥檚 verdict, she says.

Ethan鈥檚 rehabilitation will take place at a $450,000-a-year California treatment facility that features horse-riding therapy. His father will pay for the treatment, the judge ordered.

One of Ethan鈥檚 lawyers said her own interactions with the teenager suggest that the judge understood the stakes.

Attorney Reagan Wynn told CNN in December that Judge Boyd 鈥渟pecifically mentioned that [affluenza] was not a basis for her decision. She heard all the evidence and she made what she thought was the appropriate disposition. I think he can be rehabilitated given intensive therapy, and I hope that he gets it.鈥�

Moreover, even if the pseudo-scientific 鈥渁ffluenza鈥� designation, made by the psychologist who testified for the defense, didn鈥檛 play a key role in the sentencing, the idea that wealth can invite a sense of emptiness and desperation may have some scientific merit.

In 鈥淭he Golden Ghetto: The Psychology of Affluence,鈥� author Jessie O鈥橬eill describes how people who feel entitled to everything their money can buy sometimes suffer psychological injury as a result. What鈥檚 more, a 2010 study from the University of Georgia found that the level of self-control people exhibit can be linked to the level of self-control that people in their immediate surroundings show.

Such explanations, however, ring hollow to those who lost loved ones to Ethan鈥檚 actions.

"Money always seems to keep Ethan out of trouble," Eric Boyles, who lost his wife and daughter in the crash, told the Dallas-Fort Worth Fox affiliate, in December. "This was one time I did ask the court for justice and for money not to prevail."

The justice system must not appear callous to such views, lest people start to 鈥渁ttempt to take the law into their own hands,鈥� says the University of Houston's Thompson.

鈥淚t is important for the system to appear legitimate, and it is possible that strong emotion has some truth to it, and that perhaps there should have been some kind of sanction that would have felt more like real punishment to the victims,鈥� she says.