Tough in juves, but very soft on repeat drunk drivers in Florida

If one only follows the docket of the Supreme Court, where the Justices are now considering the constitutionality of two Florida life without parole sentences for teenagers who did not kill, one might think that Florida is the toughest sentencing state in the nation.  But as documented by this local article, which is headlined Lee "County drunken drivers get plenty of shots: Repeat offenders are undeterred," even recidivist drunk drivers get mere slaps on the wrist in Florida.  Here are some of the details:

The penalties for being convicted of driving under the influence has not stopped almost 10,000 Lee County motorists from committing the crime twice or more. Some were so undeterred, they drove drunk again the same year they were convicted of an earlier DUI charge.

In 2009, 24 drunken or high drivers were convicted, then arrested for another DUI — some within a week of each other. Two others picked up their 10th DUI charge last year.

The number of repeat drunken drivers worries local judges and prosecutors, but sentences focus on rehabilitation and prevention instead of lengthy jail time. That likely won’t change soon. Any proposal that would send more people to jail or prison would probably be rejected in the Legislature because of budgetary concerns, one state senator said.

“Any bill that has a fiscal impact — more prison beds — is dead on arrival,” said Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. “If you tighten the penalties, it won’t go through.”...

Some believe rehabilitation and treatment are key to addressing substance abuse. Incarceration is guaranteed to keep drunken drivers off the streets and the Lee County Jail offers substance abuse programs, but being locked up may not address inmates’ alcohol dependency.

A study of 353 DUI court defendants by The Century Council, a nonprofit anti-drunken driving organization, revealed 80 percent said they believe more severe sanctions for their first drunken-driving conviction would have prevented subsequent arrests and convictions.

Lee County judges John Duryea Jr. and James Adams said they recognize letting off a defendant with a light sentence could lead to them being back on the road, possibly endangering others.

In Lee County last year, alcohol was involved in 611 crashes and 21 traffic fatalities, according to preliminary statistics from the Florida Highway Patrol. From 2004 to 2008, an average of more than 22,000 alcohol-related crashes were reported statewide, while about 1,100 people die in alcohol-related accidents each year in Florida.

Florida legislators have changed the law year after year, Duryea said, by doubling and tripling fines, making probation mandatory and lowering the requirement of the ignition interlock device — a device that requires a sober person to blow in order to start a vehicle — from a blood-alcohol level of .20 to .15 on first offense.  The device is required for those convicted of two or more DUIs.

“They’ve probably significantly changed that statute every year since I’ve been a judge,” Duryea said. “I think the trend is to get harder penalties, absolutely.”

Of the 24 convictions of three-time offenders in 2009, 19 were charged with felonies. Eighteen of the 24 were convicted as charged, instead of a lesser charge, and the average stay behind bars was a little more than four months. Two who were charged with misdemeanors weren’t sentenced to any incarceration.

I am pleased to learn that Florida is getting tougher on drunk drivers and that ignition interlock devices are to be used more.  But the contrast here to Florida's tough treatment of juvenile offenders still sticks in my mind.  I am certain that teenagers do not kill 1,100 people each year in Florida, and I would bet they do not even kill more than 100 people each year.  And yet Florida is eager to defend its authority to lock up certain kids and throw away the key at the same time that they keep giving the keys back to drunk drivers who pose a much larger threat to innocent life.