"Pull The Other One, It's Got Bells On It"...

Calling this "window dressing" would be an insult to real window dressing everywhere:

Mass. Officials Hope To Close Loophole In Drunk Driving Law

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Thursday that motorists who admit there’s enough evidence for drunken driving conviction but aren’t technically convicted are not subject to certain increased penalties.

State Attorney General Martha Coakley, Democratic state Senator Katherine Clark of Melrose and House Judiciary Chairman Eugene L. O’Flaherty said they have proposed to amend the definition of a conviction to include those who admit to sufficient facts for a finding of guilty.

It's called "Continued Without A Finding" - basically, it admits guilt, but doesn't charge for the full offense; rather, if one stays out of trouble for a certain period of time, it's like the initial event never happens. Call it the legal mulligan, if you will (and yes, I know I am grossly oversimplifying things here). Yes, we know you screwed up - you know it too and aren't fighting it - but if you work hard and keep your nose clean we'll forget it ever happened.

They're claiming, laughably, that this allows drunk drivers to get away with lighter sentences. Yeah, in Massachusetts, where we give our drunk drivers third fourth fifth sixth chances, that one extra chance makes all the difference, right? The fact that this is even in play is patently ridiculous - we're talking about a place where folks are routinely arrested for their third, fourth, fifth OUI offense or worse, and they're worried about the one time someone screws up and gets a CWOF???

I'd have a much easier time believing this will have an effect if they were making better use of the mandatory sentencing for repeat offenders. After the first offense there is the option to jail the offender for 2.5 years - and increases to five years on the fourth offense. Yet read any of the stories of folks arrested for their fifth or sixth offense and there is never any mention of more than 3-6 months in jail - total - for their offenses.

Start jailing repeat offenders - rather than whining about "loopholes" - and you'll start seeing some immediate results (not the least of which would be a reduced politician level)...

That is all.