Drink Driving....Life In Prison

[SkepticThinker]

Might have been cheaper to try to fix the problem after his 1st or 2nd offense. now the good taxpayers are paying his room and board and for social services for his dependents.

I'm guessing he just doesn't give a ****.

 

[Valjean]

Again. Problems aren't so simplistic. He might be a very caring man who works hard, loves his family and donates to charities. Many alcoholics have a neurological problem they struggle with. Many are well aware they have a problem but don't know how to deal with it.

 

[Revoltingest]

I wonder.......
A man risked killing/maiming other people 10 times.
And some talk of rehabilitation instead of prison.
Suppose he'd attempted to rape 10 times.
Would we still be talking of letting him roam free, with only counselling to protect the citizenry?

 

[Smart_Guy]

I wonder.......
A man risked killing/maiming other people 10 times.
And some talk of rehabilitation instead of prison.
Suppose he'd attempted to rape 10 times.
Would we still be talking of letting him roam free, with only counselling to protect the citizenry?

Not to mention that this is his case only which luckily ended with just risks in the 10 times. Others delivered the threat in all the tries they had.

Same thing with the rape example.

Prevention is better than treatment... if the treatment was possible too.

 

[SkepticThinker]

Again. Problems aren't so simplistic. He might be a very caring man who works hard, loves his family and donates to charities. Many alcoholics have a neurological problem they struggle with. Many are well aware they have a problem but don't know how to deal with it.

My father was one of those people. Good, kind, loving man who loved his wife and kids more than anything in the world with multiple DUI's and driving without a licence. Been to rehab more times than he could count. Would do anything to help anyone, any time, anywhere. I loved him dearly.

But being a good kind person with a drinking problem doesn't absolve someone from the responsibility of driving safe and sober. It's far too easy to kill people when driving drunk (And he came pretty damn close to doing just that on more than one occasion - once with me in the car).

 

[Valjean]

Sometimes a more permanent and cost effective solution is to address the cause rather than attack the symptom.
Simplistic, knee-jerk solutions like probibition, war on drugs, tough on crime, mandatory sentencing, war on terror, &c entail unexpected blowback.

 

[Revoltingest]

Sometimes a more permanent and cost effective solution is to address the cause rather than attack the symptom.
Simplistic, knee-jerk solutions like probibition, war on drugs, tough on crime, mandatory sentencing, war on terror, &c often entail unexpected blowback.

Just so you know....
I agree completely with your post here.

 

[SkepticThinker]

My father was one of those people. Good, kind, loving man who loved his wife and kids more than anything in the world with multiple DUI's and driving without a licence. Been to rehab more times than he could count. Would do anything to help anyone, any time, anywhere. I loved him dearly.

But being a good kind person with a drinking problem doesn't absolve someone from the responsibility of driving safe and sober. It's far too easy to kill people when driving drunk (And he came pretty damn close to doing just that on more than one occasion - once with me in the car).

I agree.

And I don't think it's excessive to lock somebody up who has racked up 10 drunk driving charges.

 

[columbus]

A man risked killing/maiming other people 10 times.
And some talk of rehabilitation instead of prison.

Here's the thing.
He probably drove drunk several hundred times to get arrested and convicted 10. And he blew off all the attempts to help him. And he sawed off the ankle bracelet, fled the state, AND DID THE SAME THING AGAIN!
Prison is the only option left, in this particular case, that I can see.
Tom

 

[Revoltingest]

Here's the thing.
He probably drove drunk several hundred times to get arrested and convicted 10. And he blew off all the attempts to help him. And he sawed off the ankle bracelet, fled the state, AND DID THE SAME THING AGAIN!
Prison is the only option left, in this particular case, that I can see.
Tom

That sums it up.

 

[Scott C.]

How many need die before we decide he should be both punished & kept from his deadly pursuits?
Anyway, I'm not a fan of the 3-strikes-&-you're-out law.
But for 10 strikes....yes, lock'm up & throw away the key.

Lock him, up. But don't throw away the key. There are people who actually commit homicide, who get of jail. Certainly a guy who engaged in very dangerous behavior, but never actually killed anyone, deserves the hope of recovery from alcoholism and return to freedom. I agree that public safety comes first, so he needs to show strong evidence of rehabilitation and recovery.

 

[Revoltingest]

Lock him, up. But don't throw away the key. There are people who actually commit homicide, who get of jail. Certainly a guy who engaged in very dangerous behavior, but never actually killed anyone, deserves the hope of recovery from alcoholism and return to freedom. I agree that public safety comes first, so he needs to show strong evidence of rehabilitation and recovery.

I'm more of a hard a$$ about adults doing such heinous things repeatedly.

 

[columbus]

Lock him, up. But don't throw away the key. There are people who actually commit homicide, who get of jail.

People who do something once, however heinous, are in a different category from people who are repeat offenders.
" Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me."
Tom

 

[Scott C.]

People who do something once, however heinous, are in a different category from people who are repeat offenders.
" Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me."
Tom

He could change. The door should be open to that possibility.

 

[Revoltingest]

He could change. The door should be open to that possibility.

He could turn his life around, becoming a model prisoner.

 

[Scott C.]

I'm more of a hard a$$ about adults doing such heinous things repeatedly.

I'd have a see the guy in person and hear both sides of the argument in detail before I could decide for certain. But, I can't see myself agreeing to life in prison with no chance of parole.

 

[columbus]

He could change. The door should be open to that possibility.

Of course he could. I hope he does. But I am not willing to take the chance that he hasn't, but "the door is open" to him driving drunk and "accidentally" killing me.
Prison is just going to have to work for him.
Tom

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Sometimes a more permanent and cost effective solution is to address the cause rather than attack the symptom.

They have tried other methods, and he is still getting caught driving drunk. Whether he is goes to jail or is committed to an institution, he needs to be confined because clearly he poses too great of a risk to public safety as well as himself, and it is statistically justified in keeping him confined, and putting him in such circumstances that driving becomes impossible for him to do. Either way, 10 times later and various things tried and he's still doing it, he simple cannot be turned loose because it should be assumed he will get drunk and get behind the wheel again. It's sad, but the safety of the general public has to be considered.

He could change. The door should be open to that possibility.

It's certainly possible, but extremely unlikely.

 

[columbus]

But, I can't see myself agreeing to life in prison with no chance of parole.

I'm not a Christian. I don't believe in supernatural, posthumous, cosmic justice.
I say, let's do the best we can in the here and now. I'm not waiting for some fictional character from an old book to make a happy ending.
Tom

 

[Twilight Hue]

What if the sentence was death instead? Life in prison typically is the alternative punishment being he will die in prison.

The sentence is cruel and unusual. It sets a precedence for similar offences that it's perfectly ok to lock somebody over a legal substance for fear he might kill someone through his behavior.

I think it would better serve to permanently revoke his driving privileges and be subject
for close long term monitoring due to his repeat offenses.