Parents Charged for Allowing Teens Drinking Party

A Deerfield father held responsible for his sons drinking party, which ended in a fatal drunk driving, DUI car crash and the deaths of two 18-year-old partygoers,

I found this news in the following web.
http://www.wbbm780.com/Deerfield-Man-Reports-To-Jail-For-Teen-Drinking-Pa/1025630
Here below I give its full news report and my main comment at its end.

Bob Roberts Reporting
DEERFIELD, Ill. (WBBM) -- A Deerfield man will report to the Lake County Jail this week, to begin two weeks of work-release -- because he allowed his son to host a teenaged drinking party that turned deadly.

With homecoming weekends at hand for high schools across the metropolitan area, police, prosecutors and advocates are hoping it serves as a warning.

Jeffrey Hutsell seemed to many, including friends and associates, as one of the least likely people to go to jail.

The 53-year-old Hutsell is an entrepreneur known for his years of charitable giving and community service to his church and community, working with the victims of Hurricane Katrina and on volunteer projects as far away as Guatemala and Africa.

But Lake County (Ill.) State's Attorney Michael Waller said a night of "appallingly bad judgment" last Oct. 13, that ended in the deaths of two 18-year-old partygoers, stained that reputation.

"(Jail) time in this particular case sends a message and it will deter others doing what these defendants did," he said.

Waller said he wants discussion on the issue of teen drinking, even under parental control, and said his own experience shows it is happening.

"I ran into law school classmates of mine," he said. "They were talking about it and how they're going to deal with their kids now. Yes, I think it has had an impact and I think this sentence will have a further impact."

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) state director Stephen Carr wanted a stiffer sentence, but still said it gives parents more reason to think hard.

"It's a step in the right direction," he said. "We have to protect our children from underage drinking. It begins with the parents, and it begins with watching them in our own homes."

During pre-sentencing motions, Associate Lake County Judge Christopher Stride rejected a defense argument that the state law governing underage drinking has two diametrically opposed clauses, one which forbids underage drinking, even when supervised by parents, and one that permits it.

Stride said a narrow exception that applies to alcohol consumed in conjunction with religious ceremonies, by underage drinkers in the presence of their parents, cannot be used to condone teen drinking parties.

Hutsell and his wife Sara both face 18 months of probation and will do community service with agencies that deal with teen drinking and drug abuse.

It is not likely to be the last court action related to the case. The attorney representing the family of victim Ross Trace indicated that he expects to file a civil damage suit against the Hutsells within the next two weeks.

The Trace family already has settled for $500,000 out-of-court with the family of driver Daniel Bell, who also died.

Trace family attorney Scott Gibson said that his clients do not intend to keep the proceeds from either suit. Instead, he said, they intend to set up a foundation that will work to curb teen drinking and drug abuse.

Blaming the parent for allowing their children’s throwing and attending parties that may some times end up with these teens drinking and drunk driving and its fatal accidents over which the parents have no real control. It only serves to divert the attention from the “root-cause” of drunk driving so let the mayhem continue as it is!

The compensation for the drunk driving deaths should be paid by the Gov. It is they who make huge sums of money by license such a potentially dangerous alcohol drinks for the public consumption. A part of that sum should go to the drunk driving victims.

To know more about this “root-cause” of Drunk Driving, read the following most important blog posts among the others in this blog site.
http://alcohol-research-misconduct.blogspot.com/2007/09/why-driving-with-high-bac-is-offence.html
http://alcohol-research-misconduct.blogspot.com/2007/09/drunk-driving-deaths-facts-hidden-from.html
http://alcohol-research-misconduct.blogspot.com/2007/09/drunk-drivers-fight-back.html
http://alcohol-research-misconduct.blogspot.com/2007/09/dark-side-of-drunk-driving_14.html
http://alcohol-research-misconduct.blogspot.com/2007/09/alcohol-drinking-is-it-matter-of-choice_15.html
http://alcohol-research-misconduct.blogspot.com/2007/08/alcohol-prohibition-mission-failure.html
http://alcohol-research-misconduct.blogspot.com/2007/08/gov-alcohol-policy.html
http://alcohol-research-misconduct.blogspot.com/2007/07/standard-alcohol-drinks-cause.html
http://alcohol-research-misconduct.blogspot.com/2007/10/alcohol-research-misconduct-cause-drunk.html


Vallab
Alcoholics Curewell