First, the Lord is omniscient us humans are not. Second, the Lord has been very clear that mercy can not rob justice. Third, the Lord is not a respecter of persons and his justice is the same for the poor and the rich alike. Third the Lord knows the thoughts and intents behind all actions we do not. Fourth the Lord knows when mercy is warranted and the best path and when it is not. We as humans act from our experiential perspectives, biases and truly accurate understanding of the principles upon which God acts or the lack thereof.

However, it is naive to not honestly question whether this 18 year old adult is getting preferential treatment in the media, by the U of U admin, by law enforcement and by the DA/County Attorney. This kids family could easily and likely has sought out professional PR services to do family name/brand damage control that Joe and Jane Blow could never afford for their kid. This kid's family can afford the best defense attorneys that money can buy, and that gives him an advantage over Joe and Jane Blow's 18 year old son and that is reality.

I have seen many kids and young adults get community service hours and unless there is enough of hours that completing them requires real sacrifice they do little to teach kids and young adults that their actions have consequences and they do very little to act as a deterrent. I have seen parents buy out their kids service hours to spare their kids from real consequences. I have seen kids/young adults pressure their parents/grand parents to buy out their service hours so that they the perpetrator do not have to do anything. Service hours only teach those who are willing and ready to be taught. Service hours are only meaningful when the kid has to really sacrifice and put in hard work to complete them. Is this kid in mental and spiritual place where doing service hours will be a deterrent, a teacher and a way of giving back to society? I do not know.

There will no doubt be a civil litigation case here. While I am not a fan of deep pockets justice, this kid needs to pay. I sustained a concussion at the age of 13 and I still have problems due to that TBI some 35 plus years later.