Earlier this week, a parish resident was finally put in jail after he was convicted of his seventh driving while intoxicated charge. Yilver Ponce has a record of DWI going back to 2000, but because of the legal system, he has only spent 60 days in jail. He also was ordered into rehabilitation programs, which obviously did not work.

Now thanks to tougher laws, Mr. Ponce will spend the next 35 years in prison. Let us hope that he finally understands that he will have to rehabilitate himself..

But despite new laws making it tougher for drunk drivers to be out on the streets endangering lives, Mr. Ponce should never been let behind the wheel of a car after his second DWI conviction. Let us be honest, driving while drunk is like walking into a crowded restaurant waving around an automatic gun with a hair trigger. The odds that someone will get hurt or killed are very low. We should all be thanking our lucky stars that Mr. Ponce did not kill or maim someone during his nine years of drinking and driving.

If you think that drunk driving is not dangerous, just ask Slidell cheerleader Ashlee Stokes, whose car was rammed by a drunk driver last year. Today Ashlee is undergoing intense physical therapy for her injuries, and our prayers go out to her that she will once again cheer on her football team. The driver that hit her will be in jail for 20 years. We do not like to see anyone punished, but there is no excuse for drinking and driving. Drunk drivers are a menace to society, and as such, should be punished accordingly.

Mr. Ponce will have a long time to think about his crime, and we hope that he will seriously take to heart the drug and alcohol programs that are available in prison.

Seven times is just too many times for this.