28 times?

The days when we laughed at drunk drivers are long gone. Tragedies like the death of Beaumont police officer Lisa Beaulieu — and a thousand others — have driven home a fact as hard and unyielding as a tombstone:

Drunk driving is a terrible menace. Drunk drivers must get real punishment from our courts. They must not get wrist-slaps that basically encourage them to do it again.

So what do we make of Joseph Brill of Albuquerque, N.M.? This loser was in court again for drunk driving on Tuesday. It was not his first offense on this charge. It was his 28th.

That’s not a misprint. Not counting his latest run-in, he has 27 previous DWI charges.

Fourteen have resulted in convictions. I would guess that many of the rest were plea-bargained down to something like public intoxication … but should have gone in the books as a DWI.

How can that happen? How can any state be so incredibly lax about public safety?

This time, a state judge set Brill’s bail at $100,000.

"The probabilities are if you get behind the wheel, you’re going to hurt or kill somebody," the judge was quoted by the Associated Press.

Right on, judge. The 27 other judges who handled this clown’s cases should have done the same.

Brill’s attorney said he has not caused any accidents. If so, that’s a miracle. He’s also a ticking time bomb who is going to break hearts if he isn’t put behind bars.

I have a solution for repeat DWI convictions. About the third one, the law should require a minimum sentence of three years in jail. Three full years — no parole or time off for good behavior.

For a fourth DWI, a minimum sentence of four years. Five years for a fifth, and so on up the ladder.

That formula would do something that a lot of other laws have failed to do. It would get drunk drivers off our roads — no ifs, ands or buts … or funerals for innocent victims of somebody like Joseph Brill.