Preaching From The Bench

[WillParkinson]

A South Carolina judge sentenced a woman convicted of drunk driving to eight years in prison and a mandatory biblical assignment. Cassandra Tolley had a blood-alcohol content of more than four times the legal limit when she drove down the wrong side of the road and plowed into an oncoming car, injuring two men. Circuit Court Judge Michael Nettles commanded Tolley to read and write a summary of the Book of Job. So far, the constitutionality of the sentence has not been addressed.

(Found in a local gay newspaper.)

[2ndAmForComputers]

1. I could think of one or three idiots who would reply "what's the big deal?"

Forum rules prevent me from naming names.

[Warpy]

2. Curious passage

It's one of those stories that would leave a believer thinking the god of Israel was one hell of an asshole and wondering why in the hell he was deserving of worship.

[deucemagnet]

3. That's some serious drunk driving right there!

Making her read the bible may not be a constitutionally legal sentence, but it is appropriately harsh.

[dimbear]

4. The moral lesson of Job is that your children may be killed, but they can be replaced.

Just what drunk drivers need to learn.

[FiveGoodMen]

5. Excellent point!

[Curmudgeoness]

6. If I had 8 years in prison to read Job

and write a "summary", I could probably have some fun with it. The judge didn't say that she had to agree with the Bible or the story, did he?

But actually, this is so wrong on so many levels. I hope someone fights that.

And another side note, more than 4 times the legal limit would kill most people. This woman would be better served to have some serious treatment for alcoholism.

[awoke_in_2003]

7. We had to write reports in American Lit class...

maybe tread Job just like the (bad) fiction it is

[Warpy]

9. She'll be in a state prison and most of them have AA groups

I have met people over the years who got clean and sober in prison and said that was the only way they'd ever have done it, incarcerated away from their drugs of choice.

We could afford good inpatient treatment facilities for people who run into trouble with substance abuse if we weren't squandering so much money on a paramilitary drug war here and overseas.

[smokey nj]

8. That's one way to go, I guess. If I were the judge, I would have revoked her driver's license and

sentenced her to rehab, but that's just me.