1625
submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

A new law in Texas requires convicted drunk drivers to pay child support if they kill a child’s parent or guardian, according to House Bill 393.

The law, which went into effect Friday, says those convicted of intoxication manslaughter must pay restitution. The offender will be expected to make those payments until the child is 18 or until the child graduates from high school, “whichever is later,” the legislation says.

Intoxication manslaughter is defined by state law as a person operating “a motor vehicle in a public place, operates an aircraft, a watercraft, or an amusement ride, or assembles a mobile amusement ride; and is intoxicated and by reason of that intoxication causes the death of another by accident or mistake.”

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Matriks404@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago

I mean sure, but they still should go for a long time to jail.

[-] LufyCZ@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 year ago

I don't know, being in jail means they won't be able to pay for the child support.

I'd say the better option is a driving ban, with a hars punishment if broken. Making them live on the verge of poverty is IMO better as a punishment and it's better for the child / society in general

[-] Sludgeyy@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

There's nothing more scary than a person with nothing to lose

So, person that just screwed up their life. Who wants to hire a felon? How is a felon supposed to get to work in Texas without transportation? You're going to now take a large chunk out of their paycheck?

People are struggling in Texas that aren't a felon, can drive a car, and get to keep all their paycheck.

How is a person realistically supposed to overcome basically losing everything?

Driving without a license is this person's last concern, and probably some alcohol will make them feel better...

[-] Shou@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Agreed. A drunk driver proved that he/she is a danger who takes no responsibility. Permanent revoked driver's licence is the solution here.

Along with heavy child support should they kill someone's parents/guardian.

[-] Mamertine@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

revoked driver's licence is the solution here.

A lot of people with revoked/cancelled/suspended licenses still drive. We don't have a good mechanism to actually keep someone from driving.

The cops used to run plates and take action when the registered owner had one if those statuses and the driver had a vague appearance to the owner. In most places they're not allowed to do that anymore.

[-] urist 6 points 1 year ago

I think, perhaps, this isn't a problem the police can solve in America.

The justice system (IMHO. my opinion is not worth much) should focus on rehabilitation and restitution to the victim. It's probably impossible to live in parts of Texas without a license, due to lack of alternative transportation.

I don't feel bad for people who have DUI/DWIs, but I do think you should be able to recover from a mistake like that. Driving without a license can feel like a necessity, because having a car in America can feel like a necessity. Having no (or very few) opportunities makes mistakes unrecoverable.

I'm not saying these people deserve to be able to drive, it's just, revoking their license doesn't do anything and it's obvious why.

[-] Mamertine@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

I used to watch a YouTube motovlogger. He advocated after someone got a DUI they can only get a motorcycle license. His logic was they'd only kill themselves. I could get behind that.

[-] dragonflyteaparty@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That's not necessarily true. Pedestrians are definitely a thing. And people would still drive illegally without a license to have passengers, children with them, groceries, larger items, ect. On top of that, being a motorcyclist is more dangerous and one could argue that it's a cruel and unusual punishment to increase the danger selectively for certain people.

this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2023
1625 points (100.0% liked)

News

22896 readers
4438 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS