Maryland House of Delegates majority leader Kumar Barve, who represents the district that includes Our Fair City, today pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol. This move stems from his arrest last November in Gaithersburg.
Barve was represented by his District 17 colleague, Rep. Luis Simmons.
According to the Associated Press, "Delegate Kumar Barve apologized today and promised that he will 'never do this again.' Barve received unsupervised probation before judgment in a plea agreement."
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Barve Pleads Guilty
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state government
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The following comment was sent along by Rockville Central friend Mark Pierzchala:
When I was a senior in high school in 1970, a classmate of mine was driving drunk, ran a stop sign at very high speed, and hit a moving car that had the right of way. Apparently neither car applied brakes and the resulting collision was horrific. My classmate was killed as was the young man in the other car. Another classmate, a passenger, was severely injured. Most in the senior class attended the funeral, but some of us refused to go (people respected that decision).
I'm just livid when I consider that the Majority Leader was pulled over for drunk driving. I'm not placated by Barve's 26-week alcohol awareness class, his apology, the fact that it was a first-time offense, that he cannot drink alcohol for a year, that he has to pay $250 in court costs, that he has to attend a MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) meeting, or that he has previously supported stronger laws against drunk driving in the legislature.
Since college, I have frequently donated to MADD in memory of the one innocent life that was lost that night. In some of their mailings for donations, they give state-by-state assessments of drunk-driving legislation. I don't have that mailing anymore, but Maryland, like most others states, has had some legislative successes and some failures.
Barve should further atone for his crime. I'd like to see him do some community service, about 100 hours worth. Beyond that, our Majority Leader should take on the MADD mission as his own. I'd like to see him screw up his courage to take on some vested interests such as the tavern owners and trial lawyers. And I'd like to see this as his highest priority, and one with a large public profile. (And trial lawyer Simmons ought to come along for the ride!) If anyone has the legislative position to get these laws moving, it is Barve. Anything less, he ought to just get hell out of office.
Mark Pierzchala
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