Idaho Republican Senator that says he doesn't drink caught DUI

[werepossum]

That's why there should be no second chance. If a member of your family were killed by someone on DUI on their first chance, it's just an accident, right? Only if they get killed on the 2nd or 3rd or... DUI would it not be an accident? Sorry, if you take the chance on my life or anyone else by DUI, you should get a harsh ass punishment and no chance to get out of that punishment.

No, if someone is hurt or killed by an intoxicated driver I'm all for throwing the book at him as it's a completely avoidable accident. If the accident can be proven to be the proximate cause of the accident then (off the cuff) I'd say minimums of 30 years for a fatality or crippling injury, 5 years for a minor injury, with maybe minimums of 10 years & 2 years (up to 30 & 5) if intoxication is not the proximate cause but can be shown to be a contributing cause. It's much the same as an accidental discharge - once is an accident, but if you kill someone with that first accidental discharge then assuming a lack of weapon malfunction it's prosecutable as negligent homicide. Consequences matter. That's pretty much the same with everything - if one accidentally drops a crane load on top of another it's a much bigger deal than if one accidentally drops a crane load on empty space.