Applause for draconian punishment: dumbass teenager who threw a firework that resulted in a gargantuan forest fire sentenced to pay $36 million dollars in restitution
Step aside, Smokey. You ain’t done SHIT in 64 years. Kids have continued to play with fire and idiots have continued to inadvertently start fires that have resulted in god knows how much damage and carnage to nature throughout the last century.
But Hood River County Circuit Judge John A. Olson sentencing a 15-year old to pay $36 million dollars in restitution? Now THAT’S going to make some dumbasses think twice on whether or not it’s worth playing with fire and risk starting a blaze and getting caught and facing the gavel themselves.
I really love this story, because far too often, America has seen people who have done terrible things get away with merely metaphorical slaps on the wrists. Draconian punishments would undoubtedly make people think twice or three or four times on whether or not a bad choice is worth the punishment, and if only America would go a little dark side and apply more of them, then maybe this country wouldn’t be so full of shitheads.
Of course, this 15-year old idiot won’t be able to pay $36 million dollars back in his lifetime, unless he invents Fortnite2 or something. The likelihood of this dumbass seeing a million dollars in his lifetime is highly unlikely as well, but it’s pretty awesome that Judge Olson even bothered to declare a finite number to his punishment. It reminds me of those stories where a murderer gets like two life sentences plus 75 years, as if there were any chance at all that the perp was going to live to be 285 years old in the first place. I feel like those are meant to be demoralizers not just to the punished, but also to send messages to any other would-be criminals to think multiple times on whether or not the crime is worth the punishment.
But as for the idiot pyro, he’s probably going to live the rest of his life knowing that absolutely nothing he ever earns is going to be 100% his. His inevitable job at Wendy’s? 50% of that paycheck is going towards that monumental debt. He’ll be a burden onto pretty much everyone else in his life from his parents, to if he ever finds some semblance of normalcy to get a girlfriend or partner. Eventually, he’ll be resented by everyone in his life because he’ll never have any money, and he’ll be a massive leech to them and the rest of society, and they’ll probably have preferred he went to prison and died or something. And knowing that kind of sentiment exists for him, is a whole other punishment in itself, independent from the financial.
Smokey the Bear couldn’t have been any more wrong. Preventing forest fires can’t possibly be the responsibility of individuals, because the vast majority of them are far too stupid to be able to resist. But if Judge John A. Olson takes Smokey’s place, then ONLY HE will be, and will likely succeed at preventing forest fires from then on.
Bravo, Judge!
