Undue leniency for drunk drivers?

In this recent post, I pondered why so much more attention is paid to sex offender sentencing than to sentencing for drunk drivers.  Today, this Pioneer Press article, entitled “Going easy on DWI?”, explores related issues by noting patterns of leniency in Minnesota sentencing of drunk driving offenses. Here’s a snippet:

More than 40 percent of felony DWI offenders who go before judges facing three or more years in state prison get county jail terms of a year or less, data from Minnesota courts show.  Some county prosecutors said judges are thwarting a 2002 law aimed at sending chronic drunken drivers to prison. “The judges unilaterally are engaged in a pattern of undermining the public’s will as to how dangerous this crime is,” said Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner. “I don’t understand why, approximately half the time, the judges are giving these felons yet another break.”

But the law gives judges discretion, which they often use to give less time to offenders who promise to treat their alcoholism, said Anoka County District Judge Sharon Hall, a Minnesota District Judges Association past president. “It isn’t simple.  That’s why judges have sentencing discretion.  Many times the prosecution and the defendant will come to a plea agreement,” Hall said. “They make arrangements for treatment, and sentencing is set out a couple of months to see how they’ll deal with sobriety.” …

Gaertner and a victims’ advocate suggest that judges are slapping wrists instead of imposing prison because the defendants are perceived as “people like us.”  “These people could be your neighbors, your friends, your family members,” Gaertner said…. Even when guidelines call for prison, judges may struggle when they look at the individual facts surrounding a felony drunken-driving case, said Hall, the Anoka County judge. “Most people aren’t intending to get drunk and drive,” Hall said. “That’s why we always wrestle with drug and alcohol cases. It’s not the same as someone who picks up a gun or knife and shoots or stabs, or breaks into a home. It’s a whole different mind-set.”…

“These cases are being treated like there were gross misdemeanors in their sentencing,” [Dakota County Attorney James] Backstrom said. “This impacts more people in the public than any other crime we deal with.  It happens all the time— crashes involving drunken drivers.”