LIGHT SENTENCE FOR NINTH DWI

The case of a Kelso man who was convicted a ninth time for driving while intoxicated must be frustrating to law enforcement personnel engaged in a battle to get drunken drivers off the roads.

It is frustrating enough that a person is still driving after eight drunken-driving convictions, but the frustration worsens when a judge puts him in jail for just 120 days and orders participation in a treatment program. If the judge gets a good report, the man will be released from jail after 120 days and put on five years of probation.

That sentence was imposed by Circuit Judge William Syler last week in the case of Jerrold Keith Huckstep, 45. Huckstep was driving on a hardship license, which means he was supposed to drive only to and from work or to get treatment in a medical emergency.

But Huckstep was seen driving erratically across the Mississippi River bridge. After he crossed into Cape Girardeau and was arrested, Huckstep had a blood-alcohol content of 0.174 percent when he was tested at the police station -- nearly twice the legal limit.

Huckstep pleaded guilty in exchange for a stipulation by Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle to remain silent on sentencing and leave sentencing completely to the judge's discretion.

In this case, the prosecutor should have insisted on the maximum sentence. And the judge should have imposed it.