This woman deserves a life sentence in jail.

[Archae]

MADISON, Wis. -- A 59-year-old Sun Prairie woman was arrested Sunday for what authorities said was her seventh drunken driving offense.

(snip)

A deputy who spotted the minivan said he found a 1½-year-old child unrestrained in the vehicle.

http://www.wisn.com/news/14033046/detail.html

:grr:

[SeattleGirl]

1. Good lord!

I think she passed "enough is enough" about 6 convictions ago.

:grr:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Oh that is truly horrifying...

The unrestrained child is the worst of it, too...:nuke:

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. She's sick; she needs treatment

She deserves some jail time, but you can't lock someone up for life based on what they might have done.

[SeattleGirl]

4. She needs jail time and treatment.

I agree you can't lock someone up for what they might have done, but good lord, pulled over for her seventh time?

[Nikia]

24. What about locked residential treatment for several weeks?

The woman is obviously an alcoholic if she continues to drink and drive despite many arrests for it. She probably needs intense help.
I know though that treatment isn't always lasting. Even if they do get her sober, she might return to drinking again.
Alcoholism seems to be a serious problem here in Wisconsin. It seems to affect several of the people who I work with. Some of them are on the road to become like this woman. They are in their twenties and already have 3 or more drunk driving arrests. The sad thing is that they don't seem to care. Being arrested and losing their license is just part of normal life for them.

[pokerfan]

5. might have done?

you can't lock someone up for life based on what they might have done.

This is supposedly her seventh drunken offense. Are you saying she wasn't guilty of the other offenses?

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. Nope

I gathered an emphasis on the infant not properly seated in the car and figured the suggested stiff penalty was partly a result of "She could've killed that kid."

If I assumed too much, I apologize.

[pokerfan]

8. She obviously won't quit until she kills soembody

I was surprised to see no mention of driving on a suspended license. I can't believe that she could still have a license at this point.

The unrestrained infant bothers me of course but I'm more bothered by letting her continue drive until she kills someone.

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. That's not a logical conclusion

I was DUI dozens of times before I quit drinking. Never got busted, never got in an accident. Most people don't.

I remember one night driving with a load on and thinking, "Where the hell are the cops??" I was actually kind of mad they never stopped me.

[pokerfan]

10. So we just wait for her to quit drinking?

How long might that be?

[Oeditpus Rex]

11. Kindly refer to my first post in this thread

where I said she needs some jail time and treatment.

[pokerfan]

14. We are lacking information

The initial report was pretty sketchy and read more like a police blotter.

I have a hard time believing that she hasn't already seen jail time and court mandated treatment.

My nephew, for his first offense, was sentenced to 180 days (178 suspended), license pulled for 180 days, court mandated alcohol evaluation and treatment and three years probation.

I guess we will just have to wait and see if any more information is reported.

[DS1]

13. That's hard-core

I can't imagine ever being so pissed behind the wheel that I was wishing the cops would catch on.

These days I say "Hi" to the cops as I walk by, driving isn't an option because everything is so close, and the cops here are fucking awesome about leaving people alone.

[Oeditpus Rex]

16. Yeah, I guess it is

Half of it was like, "Damn, the fucking cops in this town can't even catch a drunk." The other half was wanting to get some help.

[CBHagman]

23. I've known at a least one case where that wasn't so.

I knew a guy back in college who was struck and killed by a drunk driver. The driver had previously been caught DUI and was back on the road after causing that death.

Back in the 1980s I knew a guy who worked with the highway patrol in one of the Western states (I forget which one), and he said it was common practice for people stopped for DUI to be written up for their "first offense" multiple times.

As the case of this woman shows, this is a problem that must be dealt with directly or it will continue. Driving bans, strict monitoring, alcohol treatment plans, ankle bracelets, public revelation of the DUI, jail terms -- I'd be for considering any or all of those.

[BlueIris]

7. There's a special hell dimension out there for drunk drivers. nt

[FloridaJudy]

12. Whose child was it?

At fifty-nine it's highly unlikely that she has son or daughter under the age of two. Who the hell is feckless enough to leave a child in the care of a practicing alcoholic?

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. Someone who's not aware

Perhaps the infant is a grandchild, in which case the grandparents might not have any idea.

Not all alcoholics are constantly stumbling around and slurring. That's a stereotype.

[FloridaJudy]

20. Never said all alcoholics are stumbling drunks

But anyone with 7 DUI's is probably showing some signs of impairment in other areas. When someone's that far gone it's hard to hide.

[China_cat]

17. Seems to me that the people who allowed her to skate

on the previous 6 DUI's are complicit in the 7th.

[Archae]

18. Two reasons she deserves a life sentence:

I found out some more about the woman.

1. She has spent a few years in jail on the multiple DUI's, but refuses to get help, or stop driving while drunk.
She is quoted as saying it's "her right" to drive.

2. The baby is her grandchild, and the woman has been cited several times for letting the baby ride with her without even a seatbelt.

[THUNDER HANDS]

19. a life sentence?

wouldn't it just be easier to take her license and her car away from her?

[Archae]

21. She has no license.

As to taking her car, I'd be in favor of that too.

Problem is, she'd buy or borrow another car.

No, this woman simply doesn't give a shit about what she does, and like someone said above, she won't quit drinking and driving until she kills someone.
Even then she might not stop drinking and driving.

I read about a woman who killed her daughter while driving drunk, after she gets out of jail in a few years, you really think she'll stop drvign drunk?
Chances are, she'll drive drunk AGAIN.

[Dukkha]

22. one of Britney's relatives?

I see where she gets her child rearing skills.