Throwing the Book at Her

Along with a few extra nouns and adjectives:

The Albany Times-Union is reporting via Twitter that Allison Lee Hinchey, wife of U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Saugerties, has been sentenced in Albany County Court to 60 days in jail, three years of probation, and three years of a required interlock device on her automobile for her conviction for driving while intoxicated.

Of course, Hinchey thumbed her nose at the court, as she had been convicted of the same offense just eight months earlier. In that case, the judge let her off easy:

The Jan. 18 arrest was Mrs. Hinchey’s second for drunken driving in an eight-month span. The lobbyist for DKC Government Affairs also was charged with drunken driving in May 2011 in the Ulster County town of Hurley, though in that case, she was allowed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of driving while ability impaired by alcohol.

The penalty in the 2011 case was a 90-day suspension of Mrs. Hinchey’s driver’s license, a $340 fine and mandatory attendance at a DWI impact panel.

Prominent, or wealthy, people are often given the benefit of the doubt by our court system, as may have been the case with Mrs. Hinchey's prior conviction. But the second judge decided it was time to send a message. Good for him.

And we still love you, Mo, even if your wife is a bit of a ditz.