Sentencing of hardcore drunk drivers may have several objectives,
including retribution, specific and general deterrence, incapacitation and
rehabilitation (NHTSA 1996):
- Retribution, which is the foundation of criminal law, seeks
to punish the offender, primarily by confinement and fines.
- Specific deterrence refers to keeping the offender from repeating
the offense through the experience of past punishment and the fear of
future punishment.
- General deterrence is aimed at changing the behavior of the
general driving public by making the community aware drunk driving will
result in stiff penalties.
- Incapacitation means denying the offender the chance to repeat
the offense, which can be accomplished by sentencing the driver to jail,
home confinement with electronic monitoring or a dedicated detention
facility. Other attempts at incapacitation include license revocation,
immobilization or confiscation of the offender’s vehicle, and in-vehicle
devices prohibiting the use of a vehicle if the driver has been drinking.
Incapacitation needs to be lengthy enough to provide an opportunity
for the offender to recover from his or her alcohol problem before returning
to full driving privileges.
- Rehabilitation refers to offender reform through sentences
including DWI education, alcohol assessments, alcoholism treatment and
aftercare in tandem with intensive monitoring, supervision and probation.
Sentencing imposed on hardcore drunk drivers usually includes financial
penalties as a restitution of losses or as a means to support court costs.
According to research, more than two-thirds of drunk driving offenders who
come before the court are hardcore drunk drivers (Voas and Fisher 2001).
When these offenders come before the judicial system and are found guilty
of DWI, it may be one of the only opportunities for the system to address
the offender’s problem and the reasons for his or her recidivism. Research
has shown alternative sentencing methods, DWI courts and sentences tailored
to each offender can have a profound effect on an offender’s ability to
avoid re-offending (Jones and Lacey 1998). Likewise, drunk driving sentences
handed down without regard for the source of a hardcore drunk driver’s problem
can result in another DWI offense or worse, death or injury.
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