Pete Coors' Community Service

Pete Coors, described as a Colorado beer magnate and former Republican candidate of the U.S. Senate, pleaded gulity to a charge of driving while impaired last week. Coors was arrested for driving under the influence in July after a test showed his blood alcohol level at 0.088 percent. The legal limit in Colorado is 0.08 percent.

The judge sentenced Coors to 24 hours of community service and required to pay $495 in court fees. He will also have to attend a Mother's Against Drunk Driving panel discussion on victims of DWI. The $200 fine was waived because it was his first offense.

However, the real story was buried at the end of the news account published in the Rocky Mountain News:

[Coors' attorney Stephen] Higgins told the judge that Coors spends a lot of time doing volunteer work for the Boy Scouts of America and other organizations and asked if that could count toward the community service requirement.

OK, let's see if we have this right. A wealthy man has to pay less than $500 in court costs, skates on the $200 fine, and his attorney has the cojones to have his normal volunteer work count as his community service?

What kind of message does this send?

Oh, yeah, there was also this tidbid:

... Coors said he wished police had been "looking for someone a little more dangerous to the community" when he was stopped.

Sorry, Pete, but anyone driving while legally drunk is a danger to the community.