When punishing drunken drivers discretion must come with scrutiny

IN ITS LATEST GUIDELINE ON PENALTIES for drunken driving, the Supreme People's Court stressed the importance of punishments that suit the seriousness of the crime. The Mirror commented on Monday:

The harsh clampdown on drunken driving, which began in 2011, has significantly reduced the number of cases involving drunken driving, which were down about 34 percent for the period from 2011 to 2016, compared with the number in the previous five years.

However, there have been concerns that the criminal accountability for drunken driving has been "indiscriminate". That explains why the Supreme People's Court is once again exempting minor offenses from penalties and stressing the importance of penalties that suit the seriousness of the offense; that is the penalties should take into account how drunk a driver is, how fast he or she was driving, and whether any real damage has been done.