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DUI Injustice

The biggest injustice, however, is the cruel, callous disregard our lawmakers show for the rights of the thousands of 0.05 percent and 0.06 percent drivers who are arrested for DUI and eventually blow over 0.08 percent 30 minutes to two hours after they were driving.

These people are in truth, and in fact, innocent of Driving Under the Influence, but because of a misdirected emphasis by the government, these hapless individuals must hire an attorney competent in this area of the law and science, and pay for the services of a medical doctor or toxicologist if they hope to have any chance of avoiding huge fines, jail time and a very serious criminal record. And remember, these are ordinary citizens just like you and me who go to work every day, play by the rules, yet still find themselves charged with a serious crime (not just a traffic infraction) and are treated by the courts just as if they committed a robbery or car jacking. And what's worse, it's on their record for the rest of their lives, not just the 10 years (effective January 1, 2005) the judge tells them.

When you see the great number of new liquor licenses being issued to small gas station convenience stores who easily can sell beer and wine to young drivers; when you see the bright lights advertising liquor and encouraging people to drink because alcohol sales make up 80 percent of the net profit for the restaurant business and provide a huge tax base for our state; when you also consider only two beers can equal a 0.08 percent blood alcohol level in a small person, you must ask yourself whose pockets are being lined to keep the law enforcement and legislative emphasis on the citizen who has just consumed a couple of “after-dinner” drinks and is snagged by a cop “who just happened to be cruising by” and noticed the license plate light was not properly illuminating the license plate as the driver was pulling out of a restaurant's parking lot to go home. To make matters worse, the United States Supreme Court in 1996 held that an attorney cannot challenge the subjective motive of an officer for making a traffic stop in open court. This means that if a police officer wants to pull you over only because he saw you exit a bar and figures you've been drinking, he can use the fact that your license plate is not properly illuminated as a basis to stop you and smell your breath to see if you exhibit the odor of alcohol. Under this Supreme Court decision his real motive in stopping you cannot be challenged.

This decision encourages perjury (a felony) and is a national disgrace. Every right-thinking American should hang his head in shame over Whren v. United States.

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