Ronnie Burdette Dodd: he didn’t get a death sentence, he didn’t get a life sentence, for his 17th DWI conviction he was only given seven years in the slammer…

Editorial Opinion: Citizens need to realize that weak impaired driving laws for DWI DUI OWI by alcohol or drugs are due to weak lawmakers in the state legislatures who likely spend a lot of time boozing it up when in session, commuting from one cocktail party to another hosted by lobbyists and attending booze-filled fundraisers for themselves and their friends.

From Citizen Times

ASHEVILLE – 2013-08-12— A Swannanoa man will spend at least seven years in prison following his 17th conviction for driving while impaired over the past three decades.

Ronnie Burdette Dodd’s blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit when he was pulled over on Old U.S. 70 on Jan. 29.

Buncombe County District Attorney Ron Moore said the case should serve as a warning that his office is serious about prosecuting drunk drivers, but he wishes state law carried harsher penalties with mandatory jail time for first offenders.

“It’s just a blessing that (Dodd) didn’t have a wreck and someone didn’t get seriously injured or killed,” Moore said. “We have too many impaired drivers who get into wrecks and kill or maim innocent people.”

Dodd, 55, of Northeast Avenue, pleaded guilty in Buncombe County Superior Court ….MORE

Moore said he’d like to see first-time offenders sentenced to jail.

“In North Carolina for a first offense you don’t serve a minute in jail,” he said. “You generally get a 60-day suspended sentence….”