[fabsroman]

Skeeter,

I have never seen anybody sitting in Court monitoring the sentences. Then again, I am not looking and wouldn't be surprised if sentences weren't monitored by somebody.

For the most part, the Judges are pretty decent with their sentencing in Maryland pertaining to drunk driving offenses. Several years ago, they received a lot of flack about being too lenient, so the legislature fixed that. If a person gets a second drunk driving offense within 5 years of the first one, the Judge must find the person guilty (i.e., Probation Before Judgment is not available) and the person must be sentenced to some jail time.

Generally, everybody gets a PNJ on their first one. The only thing that varies is how long the probation is for. If you blow high, you are looking at 18 months supervised. If you blow barely over the limit, you get 6 months supervised which turns to unsupervised after you complete a alcohol awareness program that can range from 12, 26, or 52 weeks depending on how they assess you.

Further, Court cases are public record for the most part unless a protective order is granted. So, MADD could look up the sentencing on any case any time it wants to.