This is a reprint of a column I wrote for today's Standard Blade
On the way home from the funeral for Jennifer Kois last week, I stopped by home and hugged my 15-month-old daughter.
It was on the way. Even if it hadn’t been on the way, it would still have been on the way.
That’s how I reconciled the loss I had just seen. By taking a minute to remember what I still had.
I shouldn’t have to worry about these things yet. I should only have to worry about my daughter taking a tumble down the stairs or sticking a curious finger in an electrical outlet.
I’ll tell you first I always get a little heartburn about covering funerals – capitalizing on other’s people’s grief as I often think of it.
“What the hell am I doing here?” is often the question that rattles around in my brain.
There was undoubtedly a little uneasiness last week, but no such question. Somebody had to see what some jerk allegedly took away from this family.
In case you’ve forgotten – that was two beautiful lives cut cruelly short by a drunk driver who had no business being behind the wheel of a vehicle let alone a still active member of our society. I make no pretense of knowing Kois or her boyfriend, Jake Brock, besides the anecdotes I gathered last week. But, I have no hesitation in telling you, they were pretty special kids. They were going to make a difference in this world, they already had.
But, like I said, that was all taken away by a man who socked a sheriff the day after Valentine’s Day. Maybe I’m skewed by an ultra respect for authority (blame my parents) but I seriously don’t think I’d be driving around anytime soon if I decided to fight with the sheriff. But maybe that’s just me.
Innocent until proven guilty – blah, blah, blah – throw the book at him. It’s bad enough that so many of our own kids ruin their lives by making bad decisions. We manage to teach them to do the right thing and then some loser wipes them out.
Enough.
We’ve got too much prison overcrowding to lock up every drunken driver. Our legal system has too much heart to not give a first-time drunken driver a second chance, or a third chance, or a fourth chance.
And time and time again, those extra chances result in death. Then we lock them up.
I was at the sentencing March 22 of the Fort Lupton man who killed 20-year-old Ricky Bird in a drunk driving accident last June in Brighton. His public defender actually argued at one point on behalf of him – pointing out the victim’s car might have had its bright lights on. I don’t envy the tough and often unsavory role of a public defender, but come on.
Let’s get real folks.
These people are out there. They’re preying on us.
And until they kill a couple innocent kids or mow down a family crossing a street, they’re getting a free pass – a slap on the wrist and their driver’s license taken away.
It’s time to cut out the niceties. It’s time to start fighting back.
Enough with civil liberty.
If you’re a drunken driver, the whole neighborhood should be informed when you buy a new house in the neighborhood, similiar to what we currently do with sex offenders. It should be painted all over your car so everyone driving around you knows and can act accordingly. Drunk drivers should be microchipped so when they enter a bar, liquor store or any other liquor-serving establishment, they can quickly be turned away.
I’m not talking about Prohibition here. I’m talking about taking the people off the street who have so little regard for the rest of humanity that they would willingly get behind the wheel of a car and risk injuring and killing other people.
I was so struck by the words of Jennifer Kois’ stepfather last week as he vowed, “I will stand up for you and make sure nobody will do this again.”
I know better than to question the passion of a father. I just hope he hurries.
I’ve got a little girl at home I’m already worried about.
