Yeah I don’t buy it. I suspect most DUI cases were conscious decisions made while sober. You don’t accidentally drive to a bar. You go there with plans to drink knowing full well you plan to drive back drunk.
If you go out to drink, you don’t bring your car. If you know you need to drive later, you don’t drink.
They might be drunk when they are driving, but they very much put themselves into a situation where it was the likely outcome while sober.
You think he woke up that day and said to himself, "Today, I'm going to get drunk, drive my car, speed, crash, and kill two people."
No. He did not. Everything that happened was likely unplanned. Hence, no forethought. And I doubt he was trying to hit anybody. Hence, no malice.
Yes, he still made those choices and they were bad choices. So he does need to make restitution. But the fact that he wasn't intentionally trying to do what he did makes his offense different than SBF's.
Now, is there an issue that our penal system is ultimately more punitive than rehabilitory? Of course, but even from a punitive standpoint, accidental murder should warrant less punishment than intentional large-scale multi-billion dollar fraud. We can't base punishments solely on the outcome of an event. Intent of the perpetrator has to matter.
And hometown guy accidentally got behind the wheel of a car while drunk?