I Wish I Could Say I Was Surprised...

You know, sometimes I just hate being right about Massachusetts. Remember a couple of days ago, when I posted about the MA legal community lamenting the "Continued Without A Finding" status for drunk drivers? Well, sure enough, along comes a story that highlights perfectly why I thought that was incredibly stupid.

Latest drunken driving bust sparks fear in family

Rosemarie Walsh was not at all surprised to learn that Elizabeth Finnegan, 22, was accused of drunken driving and causing a crash involving at least five cars early Sunday morning on Interstate 95. “She will kill again,” Walsh said yesterday.

She used those exact words before the judge who settled a civil suit against Finnegan’s insurance company just weeks ago. Via Facebook, police records and depositions in that suit, Walsh has been following Finnegan’s exploits since just before Christmas 2006.

Okay, so to recap: She killed someone while driving drunk and was allowed to plead down to leaving the scene of an accident. Then three years later - while on probation - she was arrested for drinking and driving again. And now, another three years later, she has caused a massive crash while - you guessed it - driving under the influence.

Walsh is absolutely right - Finnegan will kill again. There is simply no question about it. The Massachusetts legal system turns a blind eye to drunk drivers, putting all of us on the MA roadways at risk. Why did this woman have a license in the first place? Her first conviction - which should have been for vehicular manslaughter - was in 2006, when she was 16 years old; the second in 2009 at the tender age of 19. That's two arrests for driving under the influence before she was old enough to drink.

I'll wager she gets yet another slap on the wrist - and possibly wind up with a "hardship" license like Unkie Alkie. You know, because we certainly wouldn't want her to miss the latest Happy Hour at the local bar now that she's legal. She is going to continue to drive under the influence, and she will kill again - I'll bet $100 that within five years someone will die as a result of her lawlessness. They'll propose more laws in response - laws that will promptly be ignored - and she *might* serve a little time over the second death. Might.

But you know, Continued Without a Finding is the reason drunk driving is a problem...

That is all.