Teen drinking dead

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-teen-death-20120221,0,2002827.story

This Baltimore Sun article talks about an incident that has haunted me for a little over a week. On February 18, a 13-year old boy was killed in a tragic accident. Michael Thomas Truluck had been out with friends drinking Four Loko, an energy drink with alcohol.
Truluck had thrown up twice when his mother's fiance picked him up. Once in the moving vehicle, he again needed to vomit and unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the car door, and leaned out to throw up. Instead he fell our of the car and was hit by another vehicle. He was rushed to a local hospital where he died hours later.
Truluck's mother has been an image of strength and grace. She has spoken freely to the media, in hopes that her family's tragedy can be an example for others. She has urged parents to pay more attention to their children, as she herself had no idea her son drank. She has urged her son's friends to stop their drinking, to see the real life dangers and risks.
Truluck was a student at Parkville Middle School. I work at Parkville High School. For the last week I have seen memorial t-shirts worn and heard of the candlelight vigils. One of my favorite student-athletes was neighbors with Truluck. My heart aches for these students.
My fear, the underlying tragedy, is that Truluck's mother's message will be missed. The majority of students I hear are lamenting that Michael was wearing his seatbelt. They are saying "if only" in regards to him buckling up, but not about the drinking.
This article states that about 2,000 high-school and college-age youths died from alcohol poisoning in 2010. It's sad to see a local face become a statistic, but that is an important number. My wish for my students is that they learn this statistic, and having a face to put to it makes it more real.
The classic immaturity of the students is to not know the law is there for a good reason. They think they are invincible, that these actions are cool. They fail to realize that some rules are not made to be broken, but are in place for a good reason. It's tragic, yet understandable that teenagers cannot comprehend this.
It's tragic, and not at all understandable to me, that adults don't realize this. Truluck and his friends acquired alcohol from an unidentified adult. This fact is the greatest ethical issue I see here. No driver involved was or will be charged with anything relating to Michael's death. He alone was at fault for taking of his seatbelt and opening the door. However, should the adult who purchased the alcohol be identified, I can only hope they will be charged with everything applicable. Morally, I believe that person has the greatest cross to bear.

DUI pardon

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/03/justice/mississippi-pardon-dui/index.html

(Side note: I'm realizing that so far every article I've found to discuss the ethics of is a tragic instance. I really hope by the end of the semester I find something that is a positive, perhaps an example of ethics at work.)

This article looks at the drunken driving record of a Mississippi man named Harry Bostick, and how he was pardoned by the former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.
Bostick, a convicted felon, was jailed for violating the terms of a previous DUI sentence. While in jail he applied for and was granted a full pardon for his felony DUI from March 2009. The 2009 arrest was Bostick's third DUI.
One week after Bostick was driving drunk and was involved in an accident that killed an 18-year old girl.
A review of Bostick's pardon application details the high-profile supporters he had. His pardon was also expedited by Barbour's final term coming to an end.
The Parole Board says they don't know how this could've happened; the governor's representative says he didn't know about subsequent charges. In short, no one wants to take responsibility.

Politics will also be an easy target for ethical studies. So often the game is about "who you know" and politicians pat each other on the back. They seem to live by different standards than the average person. It seems that's what happened here. Bostick was awarded a fourth chance and released from jail largely due to the status of the people in his corner.
Is this justice? Not even close. This is injustice, in the most plain sense. As Aristotle would say, this is lack of virtue. I'm not naive enough to think the average politician is moral, but I wish that corruption weren't so prevalent.