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Make seatbelts and airbags illegal for drunk drivers.

Feed 'em slowly into a branch chipper. Record it. Play it on a TV anywhere they serve alcohol.

The more I read this thread the more I am torn in different directions.

I believe in accountability, but I also believe in mercy. This woman screwed up. Her actions caused the death of one, physical injury of another and untold emotional injury in the lives of many.

That being said, she could spend the rest of her life in prison or even be executed as someone else suggested. Still the dead will not come back to life and the injured will not be instantly healed.

So the questions then become why are we sending this person to prison and how long should she be confined? If we are sending her to prison solely to impress upon her the severity of her actions, does 16 years make that point more so than 5 years?

If we are sending her to prison in the hopes of rehabilitation, if she has not been rehabilitated in 5 years I would suggest that she will not be rehabilitated in 16 years.

I believe that prison time is appropriate, but I also believe that restitution is just as important. I would prefer that this woman spend several years in jail then spend several more years providing restitution to the offended parties and I believe that the offended parties should have a lot to say about how that plays out. It could be a monetary requirement but it could also mean that for the rest of that person’s life they agree to educate others by sharing the consequences of their actions at high schools and AA meetings.

I guess where I am going with this is we have become a nation that throws people away. Granted there are those who have been given too many opportunities and many of these people should be forever isolated from the general public. But is this really one of those cases?

I don’t drink and haven’t for a very long time. But many years ago in my youth there was a time or two where this could have been me. To think that just because I was fortunate enough to make it home without this happening to me….(to think that I could have been sent to prison for 16 years…to think that I would not have had the opportunity to meet my wife…to think that I would not be the father of my children…. ).

Was I (were you) not guilty of the same thing she was? Are we walking free today simply because there was not a car in the intersection when we went through it? If there had been a car in the intersection when we went through it, would we not want mercy?

For the record, I have a perfectly clean record. I have never been arrested or even accused of wrong doing. As stated above I have not lived a perfect life, I am just lucky that my mistakes did not affect others the way this lady's mistakes have.

My cousin was killed by a drunk driver back in 1998, here in Austin

The guy decided to run a red light, because he spent too much time drinking on his lunch break at a nudey bar.

They had the light, was turning left at the intersection; he T-boned them.

Impacted right where she was sitting in the car.

She would have been 22 years old this year.

I have no sympathy for drunk drivers.

jmra wrote: "If we are sending her to prison in the hopes of rehabilitation, if she has not been rehabilitated in 5 years I would suggest that she will not be rehabilitated in 16 years."

Society through the judicial system decided the punishment for her behavior. I do not use the term "Justice System" because in Texas as in most states there is little justice in the courts/prisons in my experience. I'm not gonna get on a soap box, but no one is rehabilitated in TDCJ. It's officially not their purpose. Prison sentences are strictly punishment and fines. Any rehabilitation will only occur if the woman decides not to repeat the offense and has conscience enough to feel remorse.

I won't make a moral judgement if her sentence is too long or short because I have seen cases that were more outrageous than this get a veritable slap on the wrist, i.e. probation. Unfortunately I don't believe there is any way to get restitution for a crime of this nature except through a civil suit. I may be wrong but I think restitution is for property crimes. IANAL so any legal eagles out there please correct me I am wrong about restitution.