I received this amusing photo from a workmate a while ago, showing a traffic accident in 1928.
From the official description of the accident, we read:
“Vid den efterföljande rättegången i Klippan sades det att Örkelljungabon som var orsak till olyckan fick en förmildrande dom därför han hade druckit brännvin och därför hade svårt med att styra. ”
Rough translation: “In the court case that followed, the driver was given a lighter sentence because he had been drinking strong booze and had trouble steering.”
To us enlightened people of today this seems bizarre and almost amusing because, of course, it would be quite ridiculous if having consumed alcohol leads to a milder sentence or a smaller fine in a car accident,
For example, it would be equally ridiculous if you had raped somebody, and alcohol was taken into consideration. Or you had beaten somebody up. Or gotten into a fight. Or went on the rampage with your football buddies. Or stabbed your wife and then couldn’t remember it afterwards. Yes, it would be really strange if you were treated with more leniency because you had been drinking.
The point lurking behind the sarcasm here being: If you know that drinking alcohol will lead to you losing control in some way, and you do it anyway, then it is YOUR fault. You are FULLY to blame for everything that happens, and should take ALL of the consequences, and stop blaming something else.
And as for “temporary insanity” – look buddy, either you are insane or you are not insane, so it’s the mad house or it’s prison. So just make your decision, take it like a man and stop clogging up our airwaves and print columns with your whining excuses and your slimy lawyers. OK?
/ paddy
Paddy K 
Hm, what to add? I mean, there are still “extenuating circumstances”, then it was alcohol today its “alcohol/drugs and brainsickness”. You comitt a crime because you were occasional confused or disorded because of alcohol in combination with a girl let you down on the dancefloor or similar. You were maybe drunk and if can you prove that your bad childhood, your disability to control impulses, especially when you are drunk and that you were very confused when you commited the crime-voila-it was not your fault and court should take “extenuating circumstances” into concideration.
Yep – I agree. Being drunk is a reason and not an excuse… I also hate the other reasoning too.. that a young girl is drunk and therefore deserves to be raped.. No siree – taking advantage of drunk people is not acceptable either.
Or am I just too confused?
http://ladyfi.wordpress.com
H: Yes, it’s never our fault, is it? This blog isn’t even my responsibility, the fascists made me do it.
ladyFi: Sumbags are scumbags, drunk as well as sober. Hey, did I really just say that..? Cool.
Yeah – it was cool, Paddy … especially calling them ‘sumbags’! ;-)
Today, you can still blame everything on steroids! Meh, different time, different drug. “Your honour, the steroids made me kill my entire family and I just couldn’t control myself.” Hahaha… erh… <:(
Let’s repeat after me: individual responsibility. I know, I know. It has a lot of syllables in it but you repeat it enough, it starts to roll off the tongue.
Funny to read this today, just after having an employee ask if she could leave work early due to a hangover. I let her suffer the consequenses of having been out till 4am, of course. You do the crime, you pay the time *lol*
Old times was funny indeed! I wonder what would happen if that kind of pity was placed on people in today’s traffic.
Glen: In the past it was evil spirits. Today its pills. And aliens.
Dot-com: I would fire her ass.
ullis: Exactly.