Lock 'em all up

We have more and more people in the US that loudly call for building more and more prisons to lock up people who violate the law in a way that reminds of them of some personal loss of their own. One of the biggest groups that do this is MADD, with aggressive arguments in favor of locking up more and more people for less and less of an offense.

Not only have we lowered the BAC level that triggers presumption of inability to control a vehicle from 10% BAC to 8% BAC, in some cases the 8% isn't just presumptive, it's illegal on it's own, even if you have perfectly acceptable control of the vehicle and can proof it. The US has really gone nuts about this.

So, as much as I dislike anyone being hurt, I can't help but have mixed feelings about this story

An advocate for tougher sentences for drunken drivers was struck and killed late Wednesday by a hit-and-run driver as she was walked along Interstate 70 in South Huntingdon Township.

Zona said that Tomajko was walking eastbound along the highway and then crossed into the westbound lanes by hopping over the concrete median.

"Once in the westbound lane, the victim was struck by an unknown vehicle ... then struck by several other vehicles," he said.

Maybe she was drunk.

Or maybe we need longer prison sentences for jaywalkers.