Quote:
Originally Posted by jrc
The woman is responsible for her friends death, I have no sympathy.
But I do have curiosity on how the legal part of this all settles out. And there is some justice that she is paying for a precedent to be set that will affect all of us. Especially since her crime was a major "last straw" in the passing of the speed limit law. Someone eventually would have to bring these issues to the court.
So in the abstract, can the state of NH declare that the certificate that they gave you, which declares that you passed a their safety test is null and void for some time period? So in essence the certificate is now a license and not just the memorialization of a factual event.
This is subtly different from the trial judge banning her from operating a boat for a time period. Which also has problems, we have laws that prescribe the punishments for certain crimes. There is no law that includes removal of the right to operate a boat as a punishment. Can a trial judge invent punishments that fit the crime?
So some other boater in the future, maybe an innocent person, will know the answer to these questions without having to pay a lawyer to bring it to the court.
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JRC your points about the legal system/facts are well taken and these issues will be vetted in the courts. However, doesn't simple common sense tell us that when you screw up and kill someone a 3-year loss of your boating license is a reasonable punishment? Quite frankly, I think it should be a lifetime ban but that is neither here nor there. I still find it amazing that Blizzard can't suck it up and make due with out her boating license for another season. I bet even her supporters are struggling with her latest action.