FKNA, it's hard for me to be very open on this subject. I am passionate about this because I have been around the law all my life. I have seen both sides, and sometimes the human capacity for stupidity is dumbfounding. If you are asking if I agree it should be a felony, I would have to say yes. I believe the message should be that if they continue to drink and drive they will face a severe penalty. Taking their licenses doesn't stop them. They drive anyway. I know, alcoholism is an illness, and I say take them off the roads and put them away where they can get help. My grandfather killed a young man the day before the young man was to be married. All because he'd been caught drinking and driving before, been thrown in jail a time or two, had his license taken away, his children had put him in the hospital for his drinking and he discharged himself, tried to have him declared incompetent and yet he was still allowed to be free. If they'd put him away, where he couldn't get booze, couldn't get a car, couldn't get a friend to assist him, that young man would have lived to see his wedding day. This happened years ago, when I was in high school, and I still feel horrible that a member of my family did something that could have been prevented. My mother was shattered, since it was her father, and it made my parents that much harder on us. But you expect your children to learn after you tell them something is wrong a couple of times, that you mean it's wrong. When you tell someone drinking and driving is against the law, then if they continue to do it, they deserve to be punished. Before they kill someone else and/or themselves. I know I seem harsh but you have to draw a line somewhere. I think by the 3rd time it's fair to be a felony, and I think it's fair to call it justice.
To Reconmp: I'm sorry, didn't mean to go on a tangent there. I just feel very strongly about what I do, and what I believe. I can't stand to read someone bash a cop for doing his job. Yes, he or she can make a mistake, they are human after all. But I just went to a funeral this past weekend for a buddy killed in the line of duty. Like I said, I've seen both sides. He made a routine traffic stop, a 17 year old boy who ran a red light. The kid shot him in the face. Because he had booze in the car and was scared he'd get arrested. That made sense to him.