[vkou]

I'm not sure this is a big a win for justice as you think it is.

If he gave the car with permission, he has a big problem.

If the son drove it without permission, it sounds like the son ought to get both a DUI and an auto theft charge.

There's been a serious problem in BC, where kids afflicted by affluenza race their parents' cars on public roadways. Luxury cars doing 50, 70 kmh over the speed limit. If I did that in my car, it would be seized from me. If these cars' legal owner doesn't want their cars seized for this sort of stuff, they shouldn't be giving the kids the keys.

[kingcharles]

Just to clarify my story above, kid had taken keys without Dad's knowledge.

Dad might be a bad parent, he might not. Lots of good parents have kids who do dumb stuff. I had great parents and I ended up in jail. So I can't say I think Dad deserved to lose his car.

[nybble41]

> If the son drove it without permission, it sounds like the son ought to get both a DUI and an auto theft charge.

There is no way justice would be served by convicting the son of auto theft if the owner of the vehicle (i.e. the dad)—the only one with any actual standing in the case—has no interest in pressing charges. Fines or jail time for a DUI conviction with no evidence of actual harm resulting from the event is already pushing the boundaries of a rationally justifiable, proportional response. (Revoking the son's driving license, on the other hand, would be a reasonable and predictable outcome.)

[vkou]

> There is no way justice would be served by convicting the son of auto theft if the owner of the vehicle

The vehicle was either taken with permission, or without permission.

You don't get to launder responsibility by doing crime using someone else's stuff.

> Fines or jail time for a DUI conviction with no evidence of actual harm resulting from the event is already pushing the boundaries of a rationally justifiable, proportional response.

No, it's not. This isn't the 60s anymore. Every time you drive drunk, you are playing Russian roulette with the lives of everyone around you. It's gross disregard for human life. It's going out onto the street, loading a gun, closing your eyes, spinning in a circle, and pulling the trigger.

If you're an idiot minor whose teenage brain cannot bridge the concepts of cause and effect, as with most crimes, some leniency can be expected, but in the general case, this is an incredibly serious thing.

[vinceguidry]

It's not a win for justice and wasn't presented as one. It was a stroke of luck and a little very welcomed self-help advice.