I agree with you, Scott. I do think he should have gotten more than 30 days and some change, but still...he wasn't THAT far over the limit, and the guy was out of a crosswalk and likely running across the road. A lot of times someone who is legally drunk might be driving just fine, but gets into an accident that even a sober driver would have gotten in. Then he/she is screwed. Rightly so, mind you, because he/she shouldn't have been driving drunk, but it's not always possible to lay ALL the blame at the feet of the driver just because he/she had an extra drink over what should have been. Interestingly enough, I know of cases where someone over the legal limit was driving "just fine" and had some other idiot rear end him at a light. Guess who got blamed for something that was absolutely not his fault? I know you drive drunk, you take the risks that go with it. I don't have much sympathy for drunk drivers because they just should not be taking the risk. It's just not worth it. But that doesn't mean tossing them in the cellar and locking the door is appropriate in every circumstance.

Mind you, this story really irks me because I think his payoff and celebrity status likely is what earned him the short sentence. I had a DUI back in college days and I stopped, and was cooperative with the cops, admitted my fault (although didn't hit anybody, thank God) but I still got the book thrown at me. I guess I didn't have anyone to pay off in order to duck my responsibility.