drunk driver sentenced for killing cyclist

Is this justice?

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...AGVO903NQ1.DTL

--
Steve Fox
McKinleyville, CA

Well we really don't know how to effectively deal with this problem. Did he
do a terrible thing? Without question. Does it best server society to
incarcerate DWI's? That is open for debate. What do you do with people who
won't manage their vices when those vices have the ability to serious hurt
of kill others? It's not an easy question but it is a question that deserves
much more attention than it gets.

Jeff
"Steve Fox" wrote in message
news:I5f6d.341693$Oi.98217@fed1read04...
Is this justice?

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...AGVO903NQ1.DTL

--
Steve Fox
McKinleyville, CA

Is this justice?

Of course not, but, hopefully, another inmate will administer some 'justice' on
the inside.

Essentially, society seemingly considers bike riders as expendable items, and
treat their deaths or horrendous injuries as little more than plowing into a
mail box or a bunch of greenery...harmless fun and a bit of a joke.

Wow...crunched a biker...cut for commercial.

Motion pictures, TV, and of course the 'criminal' justice system, only
reinforce this.




James S. Prine
http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/

James S. Prine Wrote:
Is this justice?

Of course not, but, hopefully, another inmate will administer some
'justice' on
the inside.

Essentially, society seemingly considers bike riders as expendable
items, and
treat their deaths or horrendous injuries as little more than plowing
into a
mail box or a bunch of greenery...harmless fun and a bit of a joke.

Wow...crunched a biker...cut for commercial.

Motion pictures, TV, and of course the 'criminal' justice system, only
reinforce this.




James S. Prine
http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/

How exactly do we figure this? He was sentenced to the maximum sentence
allowed by law for the offense to which the driver pled guilty? How does
this equate to some type of discrimination against "expendable bike
riders"?


--
Brunswick_kate

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 08:06:20 -0700, Steve Fox wrote
in message I5f6d.341693$Oi.98217@fed1read04:

Is this justice?
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...AGVO903NQ1.DTL

Yes. Especially when you consider that many people who kill cyclists
while driving are allowed to drive home from court.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Homicide with aggravating circumstances frequently earns 'life' or 'death'.


"Brunswick_kate"
wrote in message
...

James S. Prine Wrote:
Is this justice?

Of course not, but, hopefully, another inmate will administer some
'justice' on
the inside.

Essentially, society seemingly considers bike riders as expendable
items, and
treat their deaths or horrendous injuries as little more than plowing
into a
mail box or a bunch of greenery...harmless fun and a bit of a joke.

Wow...crunched a biker...cut for commercial.

Motion pictures, TV, and of course the 'criminal' justice system, only
reinforce this.




James S. Prine
http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/

How exactly do we figure this? He was sentenced to the maximum sentence
allowed by law for the offense to which the driver pled guilty? How does
this equate to some type of discrimination against "expendable bike
riders"?


--
Brunswick_kate

At least he can't kill anyone else while he's in prison, unless of course
it's another prisoner

"Jeff Grippe" wrote in message
...
Well we really don't know how to effectively deal with this problem. Did
he
do a terrible thing? Without question. Does it best server society to
incarcerate DWI's? That is open for debate. What do you do with people who
won't manage their vices when those vices have the ability to serious hurt
of kill others? It's not an easy question but it is a question that
deserves
much more attention than it gets.

Jeff

How exactly do we figure this? He was sentenced to the maximum sentence
allowed by law for the offense to which the driver pled guilty? How does
this equate to some type of discrimination against "expendable bike
riders"?

I'm based in New Orleans. For years, we've had to deal with drunk drivers
maiming and killing people, and often getting slapped on the wrist as
'justice'...for a truly interesting example of 'justice' and how it is applied,
please visit the following website dealing with the notorious "Chappaquiddick
on Bayou St. John" (http://wbhjr.home.gs.net/shelly4_web.htm); I had a
colleague who was killed by a drunk driver (the killer got the proverbial slap
on the wrist), and I myself had my lower spine wrecked by a man who tried to
kill me with his Ford Explorer...this, while I was committing the crime of
being a uniformed Police Officer on patrol (and he had tried to run down a
female pedestrian not even two weeks before); I put him in jail but, at trial,
the Judge found him innocent because he 'didn't particularly like Policemen
anyway'...and of course the man who tried to kill me is now suing me for 'False
Arrest'...a case which has been going on for over two years now.

I could literally write a book on the subject.

Justice?

Justice has become a commodity, IMHO.




James S. Prine
http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/

Sorry about that URL, it is now corrected to:

http://wbhjr.home.gs.net/shelly4_web.html

Thank you.

BTW, we had a cyclist killed just two days ago by a 'cellphone' driver...the
cyclist was literally smashed to pieces as a result.

A few months ago, another cyclist was hit and killed by a drunk driver...the
woman fled the scene but was so drunk she smashed into an obstruction not too
far from where she killed the cyclist and was captured there. She was out on
bond for DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED.




James S. Prine
http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/

The sad fact is that unfit drivers populate the road. People with suspended
and revoked DLs leave the court house and drive away. People with no
insurance in insurance mandatory states drive while uninsured. I don'tthink
harsh jail time as the rule will do much to deter it either. It will take
some kind of bioelectronic smart card/license/ignition lock that absolutly
locks out chemically impaired and unlicensed drivers.