White Collar Crime vs. Drunk Driving (Zen)

[CDRaider]

This is an interesting notion that our criminology prof brought up.

White Collar Crime is considered a crime of negligence. By WWC(white collar crime) i mean things like not replacing faulty equipment instead of Matha Steward kind of stuff.

So anyways, WWC is a crime of negligence that kills thousands of people a year. Things like Three Mile Island and the mining incident where the roof collapsed and there was a finding that the supports weren't stable but they were never replaces. Things like this are considered a crime of neglicence because the person KNEW that there was something wrong and did NOTHING about it. The Justice system generally gives a sentance of around a decade for these kind of crime. The reason they do this is because 'they do not believe the person went into the business or ignored the report with the intent of killing someone'.

Now drunk driving is considered a captial offense and the person is charged with FIRST DEGREE murder if they kill someone whil DUI. But heres my question, does the drunk person get in the car with the intent to kill someone? Their actions do not seem that different from someone who reads a report of faulty equipment and decides its too costly to replace. They both kill someone due to negligence. Why is one only a dozen years and the other is life?

[angellous_evangellous]

There has got to be a better way to define your terms.

[angellous_evangellous]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_collar_crime

[CDRaider]

Originally Posted by angellous_evangellous

There has got to be a better way to define your terms.

What do you mean?

[GloriaPatri]

If you ask me, I think drunk driving laws should be abolished.

[angellous_evangellous]

Originally Posted by CDRaider

What do you mean?

White collar crime cannot be generally defined as a crime of negligence because most white collar crimes are willful acts of deception, which ruins your argument.

[CDRaider]

Originally Posted by angellous_evangellous

White collar crime cannot be generally defined as a crime of negligence because most white collar crimes are willful acts of deception, which ruins your argument.

I think you may have misunderstood.

I DO NOT think they are acts of negligence, i do believe they are purposeful acts but the justice system defines it as such. So working with the definitions that are currently in place.... the comparison is valid.

[Booko]

Originally Posted by GloriaPatri

If you ask me, I think drunk driving laws should be abolished.

I don't. But then as my husband was nearly killed by a drunk driver years ago, I have an obvious partiality on the subject.

Someone who is irresponsible enough to get behind the wheel when they are impaired, be it by alcohol, drugs, or perfectly legal Benadryl, has endangered others and already proven they lack the judgment to deserve the privelege of driving a car.

It's perfectly legal for me to drive while I'm having a migraine, but if its bad enough, I don't, because I know I am not capable of handling the vehicle safely, and have no desire to kill myself or someone else.

[Ðanisty]

Originally Posted by GloriaPatri

If you ask me, I think drunk driving laws should be abolished.

Why???