Ohio teen dubbed 'hell on wheels' after killing her boyfriend and his friend in a crash is sentenced to 15 years to life

18-24-61-B-17-17-4@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 554 points –
'Hell on wheels' teen who killed boyfriend and his friend in crash sentenced to 15 years to life
nbcnews.com
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Honestly, if she hadn’t threaded to kill her boyfriend with her car before this happened, then I think suspending her license for a decade or two or may be life would be the right solution. Prison shouldn’t be a punishment, but a way to keep everyone else safe from dangerous people. If she won’t drive, then she isn’t a danger. But it sounds like she’s dangerous no matter what.

The trial featured surveillance video played in court showing the moment Shirilla accelerated towards the building without stopping, until a gut-wrenching crash is heard.

Anyone capable of doing this deserves prison time.

Agreed. We know she did it on purpose and is a dangerous person in general, not just a careless or even reckless driver. She needs to be in prison to keep us safe. Shes different than someone who is merely a bad driver, or even a reckless driver who just needs to be kept out of a car to keep everyone around them safe.

Prison shouldn’t be a punishment

Yes, it absolutely should be. I can't stand people who think the criminal justice system shouldn't dole out punishments, but should only aim to rehabilitate people. You folks have absolutely no empathy for victims. Punishments are important, because criminals cause suffering to other people. The entire concept of justice is based on the idea that criminals should suffer at least a modicum of the harm they do to others as payment for their crimes. Over the centuries, we have done away with the "eye for an eye" model of punishment and decided that the worst sentences we can hand down are execution and life in prison, and most people today aren't actually in favor of execution. Spending your life in prison is a slap on the wrist compared to being murdered.

I'm sure this girl could be rehabilitated within a few years. Under your model, she'd walk free while the parents and siblings of her victims were still trying to recover mentally from what she did to their families. Your lack of empathy for them is repugnant. You should feel ashamed.

Seems like you are blending the concepts of punishment and that of revenge. While a criminal, who’s crime has been proved in court should absolutely be punished for the crimes he/she committed according to the corresponding law, the sentences should not be led or even influenced by the feeling of “taking revenge for the victims”, because that’s not what a punishment should be about.

I guess this is one of the main differences between judicial systems and their underlying philosophies in the US and in Europe. While in the US the state can kill / execute some person, because this person has killed another person, that would be unthinkable in Europe, because the state does not have such a “right” and killing / executing a murderer would also be a crime against that person’s life.

European systems are more driven by the idea of “resocialising” criminals, so that they could eventually become acceptable members of society again some day.

The US's sense of justice is very much informed by the widespread belief in a deity that requires people to conflate cruelty and love.

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