BY MIKE CETERA
Are we supposed to feel sorry for Randy Visor because he made a "bad decision?" Visor should feel lucky that he'll only have to spend about six more months in jail.
If you'll recall, Visor drove drunk in 1997 and killed four people in the process, including three Waubsonsie Valley High School students. He was released from prison in late 2002 after serving about a third of his 13-year prison sentence on reckless homicide charges.
Visor lucked out. He was released two years earlier than the victims' families expected him to be released. Lawmakers saw the injustice of the prison sentence and strengthened drunken driving laws after Visor's conviction, laws that allow for longer prison terms for reckless homicide and establish minimum rules for how much of a sentence is actually served.
Visor lucked out again when he was pulled over last year in Batavia for driving on a revoked license, one of the punishments that remain in place following the fatal DUI. At the time, state law allowed prosecuters to charge Visor with no more than a misdemeanor for driving on a revoked license. That law, too, has changed because of Visor. Now, anyone convicted of reckless homicide caught driving on a revoked license can be charged with a felony.
Visor's attorney, Matt Downs, said his client should be excused because he was trying to get to work to support his family. "Mr. Visor has made a mistake he is not likely to make again," Downs said. "He is a mature man who values family above all else."
No, Visor's past "mistakes" have cost lives. We shouldn't feel sorry for him now.
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