Sixth-offense OUI

I am writing to support Sen. Bill Diamond’s proposal for sixth-offense OUI offenders. Your editorial of Dec. 26 was simply wrong when it stated that “nearly 9,000 offenders would fall into this category.” Perhaps 100 people each year arrested for OUI have five or more prior offenses. In fact, total OUI arrests in this state have decreased from nearly 10,000 each year to approximately 7,000 annually.

The 100 chronic OUI offenders Sen. Diamond and I seek to impact cause much damage. These are the offenders who maim and kill people. These are the offenders who have already had several opportunities for counseling and treatment. They keep on drinking and driving because they don’t give a damn.

A sentence range of one to 10 years for such offenders is modest, and in the minds of many, not sufficient. More importantly, Sen. Diamond and I propose that these offenders lose their right to drive for the rest of their lives.

As district attorney, my office sponsors and supports a variety of diversion and alternative sentencing programs in the hopes of turning people away from the criminal justice treadmill. For these people to be successful, they have to show a modicum of interest.

By the time you reach your sixth offense OUI, you have proclaimed to the world loudly and clearly that you have no intention or desire to change your ways. We need to put you out of circulation before you kill someone.

Although Maine has the lowest incarceration rate in the country, I support the BDN’s desire to find alternatives to incarceration and I served on the Corrections Alternatives Advisory Commission. I respectfully suggest that people who have committed six to 12 OUIs are not the ones who are most appropriate for these alternatives. The state prison is where they belong.

Evert Fowle

District attorney, Kennebec and Somerset counties