Knoxville Judge Tough on Drunk Driver

By Gail Myers

Judge Ray Lee Jenkins of the Knox County Criminal Court received the support of the Oak Ridge Chapter of RID recently. A case before his court involved a drunk driver who had caused an accident that claimed the lives of two innocent people on Halloween night in 2001. Judge Jenkins sentenced the driver to 24 years, the maximum sentence allowed. He had pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide. This sentence was appealed and the state Court of Criminal Appeals sent it back for a new sentencing hearing. Witness statements and an audiotape showing the drunken driving endangering motorists before the fatal crash were introduced at this hearing. Judge Jenkins refused to reduce the sentence.

We need more judges like Judge Jenkins in our court system. We have become too concerned with the rights of the ones who break the laws instead of protecting the innocent victims and their rights. Judge Jenkins believes in the law and has taken a stance on what he feels is the right thing to do. If more judges would render harsher sentences to these drivers, then maybe they would stop getting behind the wheel of their vehicles and endangering everyone on the road. It has become way too common for a driver convicted of DUI to plead down and receive a “slap on the wrist” for punishment. This has to stop! Thank you Judge Jenkins for doing your part to make our streets safer. We have a long way to go though, maybe some of your fellow judges will follow you in your attempt to send a message to these drunken drivers—that it won’t be tolerated in your court, or anyone else’s court, any more.