June 01, 2007
Scalia's Daughter Gets A DUI--So What?
From CNN:
• Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's daughter on probation in Illinois
• Ann S. Banaszewski, 45, entered plea agreement for DUI
• More serious charges, including child endangerment, dropped
• Banaszewski also agreed to perform community service
WHEATON, Illinois (AP) -- The daughter of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was sentenced to 18 months of court supervision after pleading guilty to drunken driving.Ann S. Banaszewski, 45, of Wheaton, Illinois, on Wednesday accepted a plea agreement under which prosecutors dropped four other charges including endangering the life of a child and failure to secure a child younger than 8 in a child-restraint system.
She was arrested February 12 while driving away from a fast-food restaurant in Wheaton, 20 miles west of Chicago. Three of her children were inside her 1996 Ford van when someone called police to report a suspected intoxicated driver, authorities have said.
Fellas, seriously, WHY is this in news? The woman is 45-years-old. What's this-got-to-do with Scalia?
Ratings. Attention. Muckraking.
Posted by: Brad at June 1, 2007 02:56 PMIf you ask me this is all building out of the Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan incidents. It is all part of the "hero" or "anti-hero" creating culture of the US (speaking as a guatemalan).
Posted by: Juan Callejas at June 1, 2007 03:23 PMEven if she were a lot younger, I still wouldn't understand why it would be news. The best of parents are still raising sinful children. There's only so much a parent can do. I have great parents, and my oldest brother has been in and out of jail several times and fathered multiple children out of wedlock. In high school, I decided it would be fun to drink and smoke a lot. I still use curse words sometimes (shocker!). It had nothing to do with my parents and everything to do with my sinful nature.
Posted by: Vida at June 1, 2007 03:51 PMThis kind of "news" grows out of America's obsessively voyeuristic culture that began with nationalized coverage of local news (such as murders or the kidnapping of little white girls), then progressed to an orgy of reality TV shows, and now culminating in coverage of any event or person separated by less than 6 degrees from someone "famous."
Posted by: christopher at June 1, 2007 04:22 PMApparently, this is the closest they can get to finding something bad to say about Scalia. If you can't find a scandal, create one by talking alot about something that doesn't have anything to do with a person, but sounds like it does. Pretty much a waste of time, esp. as his daughter is 45. Lindsey Lohan is more of a story since she's not really even old enough to drink. A 45-year-old is a non-story.
Posted by: dramaturge at June 1, 2007 04:34 PMYeah, you guys are all right. It's just amazing. I could see it if she were 13-years-old.
Posted by: Anthony at June 1, 2007 05:08 PMThe daughter of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice is driving a 1996 Ford Van? Now that's amazing.
Posted by: Wayne at June 3, 2007 10:07 PM