In keeping the central promise she made during her historic 2005 run for Nassau County District Attorney, Kathleen Rice wasted no time in tackling the epidemic of drunk-driving on Long Island. Months after taking office, Rice overhauled the office’s DWI plea bargaining guidelines and created a comprehensive and unprecedented drunk-driving education program for Nassau’s high schools. Later that year, Rice and the courts agreed to open a DWI court, allowing specially trained prosecutors and judges to efficiently manage thousands of drunk-driving cases on a case-by-case basis each year.

To read her full biography, click here or on her picture at the upper left of this article. DA Rice served as an assistant U.S. Attorney under Janet Reno – something that shocked me when one considers Ms. Reno’s complete lack of respect and partisan enforcement of the law. Apparently, DA Rice only picked up good habits and never lost sight of the meaning of justice while under Ms. Reno’s tutelage.

Rice’s office has obtained murder and manslaughter convictions for drunk drivers who kill and she has drafted and lobbied successfully for legislation to toughen the penalties for the ‘worst of the worst’ drunk drivers in New York State. Her attitude is that when one gets behind the wheel drunk, the consequences are no longer the result of an accident; they are the result of a deliberate and willful behavior and deserving of harsh penalties. One conviction got a driver 18 years to life. Another got the driver 25 years to life. Now, if only we could get DAs like this and judges who take their responsibility to protect the public seriously in the Commonwealth, we might end up with a better, healthier and more decent society.