Jennifer Bukosky, her unborn child Sophie and her ten year old daughter, Courtney, died after Mark Benson slammed into their car at a high rate of speed while allegedly under the influence of prescription drugs.  Two days earlier, Benson had appeared before Waukesha County Circuit Judge Lee Dreyfus, Jr.  to be sentenced for third offense drunk driving.  Judge Dreyfus imposed a sentence of 75 days in jail (with work release privileges) but gave Benson a couple of weeks to report to jail.  At the time of the collision, Benson had been ordered not to drive.

     Mike Farney is Jennifer's dad.  In an effort to try to find a silver lining in a very dark cloud, he is calling upon the community to take efforts to make certain that his daughter and grandchildren have not died in vain.  In a letter to the local newspaper and an interview with our radio station, Farney is asking for the public to pressure decision makers to make situations like this less likely to occur in the future.  He's even suggested that the changes can be made in the name of his surviving grandson, Zachary

     Clearly, Judge Dreyfus blew it in this case.  He could have sent Benson to jail right away but chose not to.  To the extent that Judge Dreyfus - and his colleagues throughout the State - handle people like Benson with kid gloves, they need to be held accountable by the people who elect them.

     Shortly after this incident, I wrote a piece calling for a change in State law to allow for the seizure of the vehicles of people who continue to drive after multiple revocations of their drivers licenses.  While it won't stop every creep from getting behind the wheel of a car, it will stop some.   It will also make it more difficult for the rest to continue to drive. 

     The good folks at the Badger Blogger web site have started an online petition to encourage the Legislature to adopt automobile forfeiture as an additional penalty for repeat drunk drivers.  Obviously, I think this is a good idea and would extend it to many other classes of people who drive after revocation as well.

     We can't bring Jennifer, Courtney and Sophie back.  Moving forward however, we can join with Mike Farney to press for changes in the law and increased judicial accountability to make it less likely that senseless deaths like this occur in the future.

     What a fitting tribute!