DWI with a child is now a felony

Most of us cannot understand what possesses a person to drive drunk. This paper’s position has long been that drinking and driving is potentially deadly behavior that can have the same result as opening fire with a gun in a crowded mall. DWI requires stiff penalties.

When someone drives drunk with a child in the car, he or she must face even graver consequences. A child has no ability to say no to his or her drunk parent or caretaker. It is the height of irresponsibility to drive under the influence with a child, and yet we see adults — parents, no less — doing just that.

Consider the recent case of Carmen Huertas. The 31-year-old mother was allegedly drunk in October when she put 11-year-old Leandra Rosado, a friend of her daughter’s, in a car along with six other young passengers and drove off. They were headed to a slumber party when Huertas’s car overturned on the Henry Hudson Parkway. Leandra was killed instantly. The others — including Huertas — survived.

She was charged with vehicular man-slaughter. But what if she had not been in a crash? What if she had been pulled over by police because she was swerving through traffic? In the past, she would have been charged with a misdemeanor for having driven drunk with children in her car — and would have faced virtually no jail time.

Thanks to the Child Protection Act of 2009, otherwise known as Leandra’s Law, passed last week, adults who drive drunk with minors will no longer get off with a slap on the wrist. They will be charged with a felony.

The legislation, co-sponsored by State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., a Republican from Merrick, and Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, a Democrat from Long Beach, makes it a Class E felony to drive drunk with a child. Violators can be sentenced to up to four years in prison. DWI offenders who kill children who are passengers in their cars face sentences of up to 25 years.

At the same time, Leandra’s Law requires that anyone convicted of DWI in New York have an ignition interlock device installed on his or her vehicle. The offender must blow into the device and pass a breath test in order to start the car.

We can only say bravo to the Legislature and Governor David Paterson for passing such critical legislation. We have long advocated for a measure such as Leandra’s Law. Our only regret is that the bill will be forever associated with the needless death of an innocent child.