First and Foremost, I am sure this post is or may seem highly political. As mentioned prior, I do not feel it is fair for someone to hold against me what I have written. I am not stating my political party or my poilical stances within the upcoming statement I will be making. If you feel it necessary to draw conclusions about my character based upon what I will be saying, that is your choice. I personally do not judge or care what any other person believes in for a personal political party, I love to hear opinions, but I will not walk away from a single person because there beliefs differ from mine. I love people, and nothing will stop my love for people. So, please treat my opinions with the same regards, disagree if you feel it necessary, there is no problem with a disagreement, but don't hold it against me.
As of recently, I've faced a lot of issues with the criminal system. I truly am to blame for the decision I made, to drink and drive, and thus I am willing to pay the price and face the consequences of my actions. However, I have seen some faults within the justice system that we are dealing with today.
Well, for one, after some research I found that the punishment for DWI's (especially in NY state) are extremely strict. Government states that they hope to inconvenience and hopefully really teach a lesson to those committing this crime. I agree, please do, make my life hell, this is not a subject that should EVER be taken lightly. However, I did research and have heard personal stories of people with crimes of a nature with narcotic substances, illegal drugs, etc. The punishment for that crime is not as severe. I think perhaps, drinking and driving is a crime that is easier to catch and therefore there are more cases in the court system and in an attempt to lower those rates because it is pertinent that there is an issue they are increasing the punishment. Okay, yes, there is an issue so increasing punishment can help prevent it from reoccurring... but is paying so much attention to this and letting people slide with crimes with ILLEGAL DRUGS and letting them slide through the system, is that really helping the issue we face with drug crimes (gangs, violence, overdoses, drug abuse, the making of illegal drugs, the abuse of prescription drugs, etc.) Yes, it isn't as prevalent in the court system so it's not going to be looked at as much to prevent, but really? Something seems wrong about that...
Well then second, they say, they want to prevent deaths to the people who are hit by drunk drivers. They are concerned with the well being of society and safety. They want to reduce the risks of more victims from being hurt by drunk motorists. They have laws such as Leandra's Law, which was implemented to save the lives of children. Unfortunately, a child (Leandra Rosado) was killed in an accident because she was being transported in a vehicle where the driver was drunk. I agree, please, make convictions worse because children are losing lives and getting hurt, especially to those who are DRIVING with CHILDREN in their vehicles. THAT IS MESSED UP. (This law is now making it so people convicted of drinking and driving need to put interlock ignitions in their vehicles, fora minimum of 6 months) An interlock ignition is a device that in order to start your vehicle you need to blow into a device that detects if there is alcohol in your system or not. This is GREAT. Please, do. I agree that this is a great invention and should be used! I especially agree with harsh punishments for those convicted of driving drunk, including myself.
The problem I have with this, is that they are creating laws to punish those convicted much harsher and raising fines because of specific cases in the past, such as Leandra's case. I feel horribly that this has happened, and continues to happen. I believe justice should also be reached for this poor girl and the other victims who have been injured, lost their lives, etc at the expense of a person who is stupid and careless enough to drink and drive. However, if this is justice, and is in fact trying to reduce the rates of drinking and driving, why are we not doing anything to PREVENT drinking and driving from occurring. Okay, we now have a device that you HAVE to blow into to make sure there is no alcohol in your system to start your car. WHY IS THIS NOT BEING PUT INTO EVERY VEHICLE? Sure, it sounds cumbersome. People will say this is an infringement onto their rights, and is imposing into their lives, etc. Sure, whatever, if I wasn't convicted of this, and I didn't drink and drive, or drink at all, I would be kind of annoyed with the idea, probably pissed. But the bigger picture isn't that not everyone drinks and not everyone drinks and drives, but that a lot of people do. A LOT OF PEOPLE DRINK AND DRIVE AND GET AWAY WITH IT, which eventually becomes HABIT and HABITS is raising the RISK OF SOMEONE ELSE GETTING HURT. THE BIG PICTURE HERE IS THAT WE SHOULD PREVENT IT FROM HAPPENING AT ALL. Okay, and yes, it will still happen. I am sure of it, and when it does and they get caught, then the penalty should be huge!
The thing is, DWIs being the crime that every night at least 10 people in every town get arrested with, would make the most money for our government... and if they prevented the crime from happening, they would also be losing ALL THIS MONEY they are making... So really, government, do you care that a child's life was risked or lost and want to prevent it from happening to someone else, or are you just looking for ways to get more money...???
FOOTNOTE: Please don't get the message mixed here, I am not complaining because of the penalties I am facing. I believe I deserve every penny I have to spend, every month I have to go without my license, every job I cannot get because of my license, anything I have to put in my vehicle because I was stupid and selfish and broke the law. I deserve that. I do. But, since this has occurred to me, I have done hours and hours of reading on this, I am sadly disappointed that justice is not a way of preventing negative in the future, saving lives, etc... justice is another form of making more money.
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