TOUGH, BUT CORRECT, DWI SENTENCE

Circuit Judge John Grimm faced a difficult responsibility and did the right thing last week in sentencing a Cape Girardeau County man to seven years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. Imposing the maximum sentence under the law sends an important message to the entire community: Drive drunk, endanger innocent lives and you will face the consequences.

The case involved Stephen Reed of Jackson, who while driving drunk on Jan. 27, 1996, crossed the center line, struck another vehicle head-on and killed Patricia Ann Young near Pocahantas. Judge Grimm retains the option of reviewing the case and releasing Reed to probation, after 120 days in prison, for the balance of his seven-year sentence. In some cases this has also served justice. Were he to so decide, Grimm would likely sentence Reed to speak to students about his personal experience with the tragedy of drunken driving. Reed expresses an eagerness to make these speeches.

It can't be any fun to be a judge looking down at a repentant defendant, pleading for forgiveness and mercy, and have to impose sentence in such cases. Still, it is among the most important parts of judging to carefully weigh all the factors and arrive at a just sentence. When a terrible decision ends up taking a human life, the community, to say nothing of the innocent victim's friends and family, demands nothing less than the judgment rendered last week by Judge Grimm.