http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/18/tyler-alred-church-manslaughter_n_2146619.htmlAn Oklahoma teen convicted of manslaughter has sentenced to 10 years of probation, with requirements that include regularly attending church.
Tyler Alred, now 17, had been drinking when he crashed a pickup truck at around 4 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2011, Tulsa World reports. The accident killed Alred's friend, 16-year-old John Luke Dum, who was a passenger in the vehicle.
Alred was not legally drunk, but because he was below the legal drinking age, he was still considered to be driving under the influence of alcohol. The high school student pleaded guilty in August to a charge of manslaughter as a youthful offender.
I do understand and support the basic idea behind this, in that the judge thought sentencing him to years of prison for what's likely a one time accident probably isn't the best solution. Especially when even the family of the deceased is asking for clemency.
However, sentencing someone into going to church makes my skin crawl. No one should be forced, by a government body to attend a religious ceremony. As well as the idea of a church being seen as a place with a very high chance of rehabilitating a criminal isn't a good thing.