“There’s no way to argue it. Drunk driving is something people don’t want treated too harshly lest they get busted themselves.”
A first conviction with a marginal BAC is one thing, but repeated convictions with high BAC are another. Such people are a real, known danger to everyone else on the road - an accident waiting to happen.
No argument here. But when everyone from the Judge to the Prosecutor looks at the defendant’s table and sees someone very much like themselves, it ain’t gonna happen.