Laws Must Leave Room For Forgiveness, Mercy Pro-Leniency The Driver In This Tragedy Is Everyteen, Who Needs Prayer And Kind Words.

Teenager Danielle Muncey received a life sentence on June 1 - a split second after she had run a Post Falls stop sign.

Now, she lives with the knowledge that she killed another person in a moment of inattentiveness. Worse yet, her victim, Christina Finney, was a popular student athlete at her high school.

Danielle, 16, hadn’t been drinking. Nor was she on drugs. She simply wasn’t paying attention as she approached the stop sign at Lincoln Street and Mullan Avenue.

The same thing could happen to any of us.

Danielle has punished herself more than any court could. She cried for two days after the accident and didn’t return to school because she couldn’t study. Now, she awakens each day thinking about Christina.

First District Judge John Luster was right to heed the plea for clemency made by Christina Finney’s parents and not send Danielle to jail. Her sentence is sufficient for official censure - loss of driving privileges for two years, 100 hours of community service and a small fine.

Those clamoring for an extra pound of flesh should ponder a note about forgiveness Christina wrote before her death: “There are people that have walked into my life, that have given that extra hug, smile or thought and touched my heart. A lesson is learned about hope, forgiveness, caring.”

What right do we have to go against Christina’s wishes and demand a stiffer punishment when her own parents couldn’t?

Each teenager broke a law and made a mistake that proved fatal at that Post Falls intersection. Danielle’s error is well-documented. But Christina also erred. Tragically, she wasn’t wearing a seat belt. If she had been, she probably wouldn’t have been thrown out of her pickup and then crushed beneath it. If she had buckled up, she might be alive today.

We can’t do anything for Christina except cherish her memory, as Post Falls will do Saturday with the first Christina Finney Memorial Run, and continue to uphold her family in prayer and kindnesses as it works through the grief cycle.

But we can do something for Danielle as she deals with her nightmare. We must remember she’s Everyteen. She could be a child or sibling of ours. She, too, needs prayer and kind words.

But most importantly, she needs forgiveness.

, DataTimes MEMO: For opposing view, see headline “Laws must be enforced impartially, consistently”

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN, EDITORIAL - From both sides CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board