So what do you do with someone who has the genetic disease of alcoholism – and continues to drink and drive? Get him treatment for his disease? Or maybe you throw him in prison for the rest of his life….
Wichita County Man Gets Life Sentence for 10th DWI
Wichita Falls, TX. Aug. 8 – A man with nine previous drunken driving convictions was sentenced to life in prison.
Kenneth Chris Oneal, 58, received the maximum sentence Thursday after jurors convicted him of driving while intoxicated-repetition, his 10th drunken-driving related offense…
Well, you say, he may be an alcoholic, but he didnt have to choose to drive. But that’s a Catch-22, isn’t it? I mean, part of the legal definition of driving while intoxicated is impaired judgment — the inability to make rational and intelligent choices.
This sentence is far from an aberration. See, for example, Third DUI = Life in Prison and 99 Years for Drunk Driving.
For 15 years now, the DUI fatality rate has remained fairly stable (see MADDness and Latest Figures in MADD’s War on Drunk Driving). In view of the fact that most fatalities are caused by recidivists — usually alcoholics — isn’t it time to consider alternatives to MADD’s hysterical vengeance/prohibition approach? Read Time for a Change .
(Thanks to Tom Termini)
The post Another Life Sentence for Drunk Driving appeared first on Law Offices of Taylor and Taylor - DUI Central.