Driving Drunk And The Punishment

[Lil Red]

+J.M.J.+
i'm stealing this poll idea shamelessly from [url="http://hotair.com/archives/2009/04/01/poll-how-many-dwis-does-it-take-to-put-someone-away-for-good/"]HotAir[/url]. he talks about Minnesota where a guy just got his 11th DUI, but i'm sure we all have examples from our own states of people getting 10, 11, or 12 DUIs and not facing real, hard prison time (or even just jail time).

[quote]Mills has had eleven chances to either quit drinking or quit driving. Cancelling his license didn’t stop him from getting behind the wheel while he was so drunk that he couldn’t speak properly. He apparently hasn’t killed anyone yet, but he ran into a house this time and could have killed someone inside or someone on the lawn.

No one but the most fanatical would propose a life sentence for a single DWI/DUI, or even a second one. By the time we get to three, however, we have clearly established that the driver can neither control his drinking nor will refrain from driving. [color="#FF0000"][b]After eleven convictions, Minnesota should have the option of either committing the defendant in a mental institution or to life in prison, if for no better reason than to save the life that the driver will inevitably take.[/b][/color]

Mills, by the way, is younger than I am. He’s 42 years old. How many more years will Mills have to drink, drive, and run into houses? How many times will Minnesota allow before we do something to remove him from society? I’d say at this point, the state should have the option of throwing away the key.[/quote]
bolded part mine for emphasis.

[Nihil Obstat]

I have zero pity for them. I voted three or less. There's just no excuse.

That's not to say that there should be no options with regards to rehabilitation... but yea. That's what I think.

[Winchester]

People screw up. But there are consequences for it and there are ways of preparing ahead of time.

[philothea]

I think the second offense. At that point, someone is not only driving drunk, but without a license and without insurance. And odds are they've been driving before, just haven't been caught.

[knightec]

In Texas, DUI is considered a Class B Misdemeanor (up to 180 days in jail & fine up to $2000).
A 3rd DUI offense becomes a State Jail Felony (180 days - 2 yrs, fine up to $10,000)
Any offense after the 3rd is automatically considered a felony. 3 felonies invokes the Repeat Offender Statutes & the sentencing increases.

DUI in the presence of a child under the age of 15 is an automatic State Jail Felony.

Intoxication Manslaughter is a 2nd degree felony (2-20 yrs, fine up to $10,000)


Increasing jail sentences is a tricky situation. As the penalty for one offense increases the period the inmate serves in jail becomes longer creating prison/jail overcrowding. When the jails become overcrowded someone has to be released to ease the overcrowding. By increasing one penalty you can create a reduced penalty in another.

The penalties for DUI & DWI have increased over the last 20 yrs. in part to groups like MADD. Community involvement has one of the greatest effect on public policy.

[Nihil Obstat]

Who said five? That's a weird arbitrary number.

[knightec]

Unfortunately every state picks their own arbitrary number when an offense moves up to the next highest sentencing classification. A lot of states use the 3 strikes rules. Some dont. They might pick 36 as their number.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='knightec' post='1823864' date='Apr 3 2009, 06:42 PM']Unfortunately every state picks their own arbitrary number when an offense moves up to the next highest sentencing classification. A lot of states use the 3 strikes rules. Some dont. They might pick 36 as their number.[/quote]
I guess you can argue any arbitrary number based on psychology, but it seems very silly to me.

I would say that at one, they get a minimum of... I dunno, a few months? and a suspended lisence for two or three years, then mandatory rehabilitation for at least that long. For the second a minimum sentence of something around a year or maybe more, five years with a suspended lisence, and alcoholic rehab for a very long time. Three would be life in prison with the potential for psychological evaluation to change the sentence after a minimum number of years. (but never have the opportunity to regain your lisence).

If you killed someone driving drunk, automatic life sentence with no chance to get your lisence. Maybe allow psychological evaluation to change the sentence after a minimum number of years.

[CatherineM]

I think if you kill someone, that's an automatic. I remember when Jeb Bush won governor, his "thing" was 10-20-Life. If you have a gun and commit a crime, 10 years. If you use the gun, but no one is hurt, 20 years, and if someone is injured by the gun, life. I think we could do the same, drive drunk more than once, 10 years, if someone is hurt, 20 years, if someone dies, life. It used to be with DUI, the first one was misdemeanor, the second, a felony. In Florida, it was common for DUI manslaughter to get life without parole, unless you were a celebrity of course, even for teenagers. When I moved here a 20 something got 18 months for killing a pedestrian. Part of the reason was that the pedestrian was also drunk.

I know that I drove an auto when I shouldn't have in college. I'm not proud of that, and am very thankful that I didn't hurt anyone. I'm also glad I wasn't arrested.

[knightec]

If a person is willing to get behind the wheel drunk multiple times, not having a license isnt going to be much of a deterrent in most cases. If you're going to break one law, why not break 2 while you're at it?
Most states are now requiring some sort of breathalyzer attached to the car to prevent multiple offenders from driving under the influence. As more of these devices are being installed the number of repeat cases are decreasing. Tampering with these devices carries a pretty heavy sentence.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='knightec' post='1823875' date='Apr 3 2009, 06:57 PM']If a person is willing to get behind the wheel drunk multiple times, not having a license isnt going to be much of a deterrent in most cases. If you're going to break one law, why not break 2 while you're at it?[/quote]
That's true enough, but not really an excuse for not taking it away.

[dairygirl4u2c]

they shouldn't be driving past the second or third offense. so the question of life in jail shouldn't come up, unless they are driving without a lisence.

if they kill someone, they should probably not get life in jail. though that's what i said at first. the law, and i think rightly so, makes exceptions to certain types of homicde. if it was a passion killing, it's not life. if premeditated, life. (to oversimplify) my point, someone who does a passion killing shouldn't get the same punishment as someone who does premeditated, as we all would agree i think or at least most (why it's the law), and i don't see how someone who kills drunk should get more than someone who kills in a premeditated way (like OJ simpson etc), or i'd argue even a passion etc.
the drunk driving thing i thhnk techinically is manslaughter, which is a lower form of homicde. so, the law apparently has taken my reasoning into effect.

i think ya gotta step and and think about about your "stick it to em" attitude, put it into perspective.

not that the years shouldn't be high though.

and, i wouldn't think unreasonable "give all nonaccidental homicdes in jail for life" reasoning, but i don't think most people think that, and just have knee jerk responses that say things like "throw em away for life"
(the law is the way it is cause that's what most people think, the reasoning above- all homicde isn't the same, and perhaps a second chance after many years is a good thing)

Edited April 4, 2009 by dairygirl4u2c

[knightec]

The charges against the defendant in a lot of cases depends on what the District Attorney is willing to pursue. It can range from Class B Misdemeanor all the way to Vehicular Homicide. A lot of times it comes down to what conviction they can get or whether or not they are willing to let the defendant plea out. The whole process kinda stinks at times, but its all we have right now.

[philothea]

While prison works -- obviously if you're in a cell you're not driving drunk anymore -- it still doesn't stop people's first offense... and all it takes is once to kill somebody.

I have a better solution!

Any place that serves alcohol can't have a parking lot.

[knightec]

That ideal would be great but do you know how much revenue a city would lose at professional sporting events, concerts, etc?

It sux but revenue outweighs public interest.