Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
<gasp><splutter><choke>! The punishment should fit what?! He killed somebody! What does it matter that US prison systems are messed up? He needs everything you said and a taste of prison as well.
Disagree 100%. Prison in such cases is nothing but vengeance, as demonstrated by the victim's family stating as much. I really have no desire to fill our prisons with every last driver who makes a piss-poor decision. Want to talk about taking away their licenses? Sure. Want to talk about fines and community service and house arrest? Absolutely. Want to talk about prison for a first time offense in such matters? No. Prison needs to be for people that willfully commit crime, and who have proven themselves incapable of existing peacefully in society.
It sucks when a lapse in judgement takes a life on the road, but that is an outcome we accept when we have a society dependent on nearly every last person holding a drivers license, with no legitimate policy in place to prohibit them from driving. I hate to break it to you, but even when the deaths are other motorists, long sentences are generally not handed down unless utterly complete recklessness or impairment is involved.