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You will serve your time like everyone else.
Your reporting date will be December 2nd, 2024 at 900 a.m.
In addition, I am imposing a fine of $15,000 to be paid in full within 60 days by January 26th, 2025.
Before anyone says that is too much or too little, let me explain where that money is going.
It will be divided equally into three parts.
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$5,000 will go to the Rhode Island Victims of Reckless Driving Fund.
$5,000 will go to the Providence Public Schools Safe Streets Education Program, and $5,000 will go to support the Providence Police Department’s Community Outreach and Training Programs.
I am also suspending your driver’s license, Rhode Island license number T5847239 for 3 years.
Not one year, not two years, three full years, beginning today, November 27th, 2024, and ending November 27th, 2027.
When those three years are up, you will be required to retake both the written examination and the practical road test.
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You will also be required to complete a comprehensive driver safety course of at least 30 hours.
Furthermore, you will be required to perform 200 hours of community service, specifically working with the Rhode Island chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving or with families of traffic accident victims at Rhode Island Hospital’s trauma center.
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.
What happened was a display of arrogance and entitlement that frankly disgusts me.
I have been doing this too long to pretend that a slap on the wrist is going to change that attitude.
Sometimes people need to face real consequences to understand that their actions matter.
I want to say something to the parents watching this case.
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Whether you are here in Providence, watching on YouTube or reading the journal tomorrow, please teach your children that everyone deserves respect.
Teach them that police officers are people doing a difficult job.
Teach them that money and status don’t make you better than anyone else.
Because if you don’t teach them these lessons, if you let them grow up thinking they are above it all, you are failing them.
You are setting them up for a very hard fall.
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And when that fall comes, when they are standing in a courtroom like this one facing a judge like me, it is going to be too late to undo years of bad lessons.
I don’t know what kind of parenting led to Madison’s behavior.
And I am not here to judge Robert and Patricia Thornton’s parenting.
But I will say this, if my child had behaved the way this defendant did, if they had spoken to officer Martinez that way, I would be ashamed.
I would be heartbroken.
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And I would absolutely support any consequence that might help them become a better person.
Before I close, I want to say something to Madison.
You are 23 years old.
You are young.
You have your whole life ahead of you.
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This doesn’t have to define you.
Eight months from now in August 2025, you can walk out of that facility and make a choice.
You can choose to be bitter and angry.
You can choose to blame me, the system, or officer Martinez.
Or you can choose to learn from this.
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You can choose to understand that you were wrong.
You can choose to become a better person.
You can use this experience to develop empathy and humility.
You can choose to spend the rest of your life making sure no one else has to go through what could have happened.
I hope you make the right choice.
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I really do because I don’t want to see you back here in 5 or 10 years facing even more serious charges.
I don’t want to read in the paper that you finally caused that accident or finally hurt someone.
I want to believe that you can change.
But that change has to start with accountability.
It has to start with accepting that what you did was wrong.
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It has to start with understanding that this sentence is not about me being mean.
It is about justice and protecting the community.
And yes, it is about giving you a wake-up call that might just save your life.
You have the right to appeal this sentence to the Rhode Island Superior Court within 30 days.
Attorney Morrison will explain that process, but I want you to know that I have been very careful in crafting this sentence to be within the bounds of the law, and I am confident it will withstand any appeal.
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I also want to say something to Officer Daniel Martinez.
Officer, thank you for your 18 years of service.
Thank you for your professionalism in handling a difficult situation on August 15th.
Thank you for not letting Madison’s behavior provoke you.
You are exactly the kind of police officer we need in this community and the Providence Municipal Court appreciates you.
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To everyone else in this courtroom and watching from afar, I hope this serves as a reminder.
The law applies to everyone.
Justice is blind to wealth, status, and family connections.
In this courtroom at 25 Doran Street, we treat everyone with respect, but we hold everyone accountable.
If you are a young person, learn from this.
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Understand that your choices have consequences.
If you are a parent, use this as a teaching moment.
And if you are someone with advantages in life, remember that those advantages come with responsibilities.
They are not a license to treat others poorly.
They should make you more aware of your obligations to society.
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This court is adjourned.
The defendant, Madison Elizabeth Thornton, will be remanded into custody immediately to begin serving her sentence.
Baleiff please proceed.
