LETTER: Nevada needs to get serious about DUI

Nothing better illustrates our city and county approach to felony DUI than a case in which a man killed an innocent young girl and her dog and was convicted of that crime. With every subsequent DUI death, police and our Clark County district attorney grab their TV time to share their outrage. Friends, family and loved ones are helpless in this inept process and can only grieve with the knowledge that justice is an impossible goal in this environment.

In November 20221, Henry Ruggs was driving 156 mph and killed a 23-year-old girl (Wednesday Review-Journal). In less than two years, he is now a “trustee” at the Casa Grande Transitional Housing unit, although on June 17 he was on “special release” so he could attend an event for himself and other convicted prisoners. There, he took to opportunity to say he “wished he could turn back the hands of time.” No doubt upon return to his, “dormitory-style facility,” he will be handed other platitudes to share with the public in anticipation of his impending parole.

Justice for convicted DUI killers appears to be a mere inconvenience rather than punishment or deterrence. Perhaps this family can sue in a civil court attaching 90 percent of whatever Ruggs earns in the future. Maybe, at least, that will mean he can’t afford to buy a car.