SENTENCING JOB NOT TO BE ENVIED

The job of sentencing Anna Marie Jackson in the traffic accident that
killed Officer Mike Scofield is not to be envied. One life is lost.
Many are irrevocably damaged. It falls to the judge to ensure that
others are not ruined beyond what serves the interest of justice.

Further, it falls to state and local governments to clarify safety
policies for property owners and emergency vehicles and the definition
of "under the influence."

On a human level, it is easy to get caught up in the emotions
surrounding the death of a respected family man and valued public
servant, especially when a set of unlikely and unforeseen
circumstances converge in a horrible death, as happened when Jackson
pulled her car past some trees and into the path of the motorcycle
officer with lights flashing, but running without a siren. All the
more reason to clarify and enforce safety precautions.

It could have happened to anyone. There are enough trees, signs,
bushes and curves around town that obscure views of oncoming traffic.
It seems Jackson stacked the deck against herself, however, when she
made the decision to ingest an illegal or controlled substance and get
behind the wheel of her car - something drivers too often do without
negative consequences. This time the outcome was deadly.

It is understandable that jurors' emotions ran high in the criminal
case against Jackson and in the lawsuit against property owners and
managers for untrimmed trees. Such proceedings are about placing blame
and seeking compensation, of course. Jurors should be commended for
rising above emotion and consulting conscience as well as the law as
they worked to find justice for a woman who lost her husband and a
woman who could lose as much as 20 years of her life. The task had to
be difficult.

Some complexity was resolved when the state Supreme Court upheld
Jackson's conviction by confirming in another case that marijuana
residue in a user's system is prohibited by state law. But the civil
case admitted the possibility that someone or something else could be
at fault. Nevertheless, enough human and legal issues remain to make
the sentencing decision a difficult one.