Lucy Muthoka got off easy.  She killed two men when she crashed her new car into them in a crowded intersection in Winnipeg two years ago.

After pleading guilty to two charges of dangerous driving causing death, she’s been handed a suspended sentence with probation.

“God being my witness, I never intended to harm. Words fail to express how sorry I am,” Muthoka is quoted as saying to the courtroom in a Winnipeg Free Press article.

The problem with sentences like this for killing two people is really simple.  God as your witness or not, your intentions are not what are at issue here.  It’s your actions.

When we insist on NOT holding people accountable for their actions, intended or not, we send a very strong message to the rest of the nation.

And it ain’t the correct message… not by a long shot.

Don’t get me wrong… we all make mistakes.  God knows I’ve made mine, as I’m sure He knows you’ve made yours.

When we’re not held accountable for those mistakes, sure, we feel great that we got off easy.

When that mistake causes the death of two men, the very least you ought to do is look the families in the eye and say you’re sorry.

Because those families didn’t get off easy.  Not even close.  They suffered horribly.  Sentences like this only make them suffer more.