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I want you to see firsthand the real consequences of reckless driving.
I am also ordering that you be prohibited from operating any motor vehicle during the entire period of your suspension.
If you are caught driving during this time, you will face additional criminal charges and a minimum of an additional one year of jail time.
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No exceptions.
I can see the shock on faces in this courtroom.
Some of you probably think I’m being too harsh.
Some of you probably think I’m not being harsh enough.
But let me tell you why I made this decision.
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Madison Thornton needs to understand that her actions have consequences.
Real consequences.
Not consequences that her father’s $400 million company can make go away.
Not consequences that her lawyers can negotiate into nothing.
Real tangible consequences that will affect her life.
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8 months in the women’s division at the ACI is a long time.
It is long enough to think.
It is long enough to understand what you have done.
It is long enough to hopefully emerge as a changed person, but it is not so long that it destroys your life.
She will be out by August of 2025.
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She will still be 24 years old.
She will still have her whole life ahead of her.
She can still go to school, build a career, and become a productive member of society.
But she needed to learn this lesson, and she needed to learn it now before her arrogance and recklessness killed someone.
Because make no mistake, that is where this was heading.
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I would rather have her sit in prison for 8 months being angry at me than have her spend the rest of her life living with the fact that she killed 7-year-old Emma Rodriguez or 72-year-old Dorothy Henderson because she thought she was too important to follow the rules.
The three-year license suspension is designed to be meaningful, especially in Rhode Island, where public transportation is limited.
Driving is a privilege we often take for granted, but it is not a right.
It is a privilege that comes with responsibility.
And when someone abuses that privilege as egregiously as Madison Thornton has, they need to lose it for a significant period of time.
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As for the $15,000 fine and the $200 of community service, those are designed to ensure that something positive comes from this negative situation.
That money will help people affected by reckless driving.
that community service will, I hope, open her eyes to the real human cost of behavior like hers.
Now, I know some people will say, “I am making an example of her because of who her father is.
” And you know what? They are partially right.
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I am making an example, but not because of who her father is.
I am making an example because of who she chose to be.
Because of the arrogance she displayed, the contempt she showed for Officer Martinez, and the danger she posed to innocent people.
If this had been a first offense, if she had shown remorse, if she had apologized, if she hadn’t posted those videos, and if she hadn’t done it again 3 days later, well, then we would be having a very different conversation.
I probably would have given her a $2,000 fine, 50 hours of community service, a 6-month suspension, and a stern warning.
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But that isn’t what happened.
