Yes. For a change it seems like TN has actually passed a decent bill.
No. This is one of those things that feels good to "YES PUNISH THE BAD PERSON" part of our lizard brain, but this policy makes almost zero sense if you think about it for more than five seconds.
What's wrong with this idea?
Why single-out drunk driving? Should this apply to someone who was texting and driving? What about non-car-related deaths?
Why just child support? Should this apply to alimony as well if the victim's spouse was financially dependent on them? What about an elderly parent that they're caring for?
What happens if the personal is no longer able to afford child support or dies themselves? Why put this child's financial future at risk
again?
The amount of the payments will be determined by the financial needs and resources of the child and their surviving parent or guardian, including the state, if the child is in the custody of the Department of Children's Services.
Why should a drunk driver be punished differently depending on who they kill? Under this law, the driver would be punished differently if he killed a poor person vs a rich person/person with no minor children. How does that make any sense? How does instituting an additional punishment, based entirely on luck, serve as a part of rehabilitative justice?
There are obviously many situations where the death of a parent could plunge his surviving family into poverty, and that's a tragedy. The answer is to strengthen our social safety net, not to create some weirdly specific child support program.
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