JUDGE IMPOSES MEANINGFUL SENTENCE

A judge in Springfield, Mo., has sentenced a dairy farmer convicted on an involuntary manslaughter charge while driving drunk to a novel penalty: In lieu of serving seven years in jail, the farmer will get treatment, shock time in the county jail and then spend the next five years setting up and participating in a drug-awareness program for schools in him hometown. In addition, the man was ordered by the judge to make monthly contributions to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

In addition to the good the judge expects will come from this sentence, the awareness program and the monthly checks will serve as long-term reminders to the farmer of the fact that driving while intoxicated resulted in the death of a 35-year-old Springfield man.

This was the first drunken driving offense for the dairy farmer, and the sentence may sound a bit harsh, considering many first-time offenders get off the hook without so much as a criminal record.

The inventiveness of Greene County Circuit Judge J. Miles Sweeney should serve as a model. Judges around the state can send a strong message to other motorists who drive when they are drunk.

If the judge had gone a step further, he also could have ordered the farmer to make amends to the family of the man who died. Such orders from the bench show that justice can be both compassionate and demanding.