Posted on 04/01/2011 2:22:59 PM PDT by chessplayer
The article forgot to mention that Rep. Hale is known for starting the organization DAMM (Drunks Against Mad Mothers).
On point.
MADD should have their non-profit status yanked. In 2001, when living in Dallas where MADD has their HQ, a friend of mine, who had no prior run in with the law, was charged with a DUI, his first offense, no accident no other people involved. I gave him rides to the courthouse etc.... Having talked with him throughout the episode I had a basic idea of what his “punishment” would be. While I sat outside waiting for his case to finish up I would listen to attorneys talking with their clients about their cases. What struck me as appalling was that there was this three time felon, sitting next to me while I waited, who was able to negotiate a lighter sentence than my friend, even though in Texas a 1st time DUI is a misdemeanor. MADD’s influence on the DUI laws smelled like an open sewer.
Even more ironic is that at the time in Texas you had an admistrative trial, separate from the criminal trial, to decide whether one loses their driver’s license. My friend won the administrative trial and did not lose his drivers license.
I do not advocate drinking/drugging and driving, but I do advocate the government and statist organizations parading as non-profits aka MADD staying the hell out of our personal lives. Such laws have done nothing to stop repeat offenders or those who will do it regardless of what Big Momma MADD or the law says.
“Not guilty everytime I serve jury duty and so far 3 for 3.
.08 is a joke”
My threshold is 0.12. If I’m on a jury and the person blows lower than 0.12, then NOT GUILTY. That simple. Any prosecutor with me on the jury would be wasting his time.
“I’d rather be on the road with a hundred people who have had two drinks than one who is texting.”
...or an 85 year old.
Hypothetically speaking, one could criminalize vehicular manslaughter, with enhancements for DUI, without DUI itself being criminal. That said, I think people who are clearly unsafe drivers should be kept off the road, whether they are drunk or not, but including if they are drunk. But .08 is not significantly impaired and .04 most certainly is not even minially impaired.
There was nothing wrong when the standard of DWI was EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY. The officer pulled someone over because they were exhibiting signs of inability to drive. From there they would have the freedom to use their own judgement, lastly they would administer a roadside, then the breathalyzer.
It can be proven that nearly all DUI arrests are for those in the .05 to .13 range. I personally know of a person that was arrested and convicted for blowing a .05. She was pulled over after leaving a watering hole at around 9 PM.
They were fishing for money, the same as they do with seat belt violations, and left lane violations. Recently they have begun giving out $248 tickets if you don't move at least one lane away from a patrolman parked on the shoulder with lights on. The entire lane next to where the patrolman is parked is now a NO DRIVE ZONE.
I have no problem with throwing people in jail for extended periods of time for repeat offenses, just make sure those offenses were not ticky tack traffic stops.
Lastly, it is killing a way of life, most certainly. I used to bowl on Sunday nights in a 40 team mixed league. That was nearly 200 people having a good time, drinking a few beers, eating dinners, snacks, playing pull tabs, and consuming tobacco. When the DUI standards went into effect, and people found out that 2 beers in an hour was enough to put you in the pokey, they quit drinking at all. They decided to quit going out at all. They quit smoking, they drank at home, but alleys all over America were shut down. The taverns, which used to be where people got together on weekends, or for pool tournaments, dances or for fun, disappeared. All this to possibly save ONE LIFE, which is the standard put forward by MADD and the cops.
The costs clearly outweigh the benefits in DUI policies. The cost of less Constitutional freedom, the cost in economic activity, the loss of property rights from seizures before conviction, conviction by self incrimination, conviction from refusal to self incriminate. I say FRACK MADD, they are a boil on the buttocks of this country. They are in the same category as ELF, Globull warmers and the homeless with "God Bless" on their signs.
Anyone want to guess my opinion on obesity in American adults? Everyone is sitting on their posteriors, eating snack food, while straining to get ONE MORE DAY out of life, instead of MORE LIFE out of the day. THAT is the very essence of it. That is my story, and I am sticking to it.
and YES, I have modified my behavior, but I still remember the absolute feeling of freedom in American life. We may live longer, we may be safer, but G-D it, we were happier as a people then.
Whenever you hear about someone driving the wrong way on a freeway, or hitting pedestrians and cars, they invariably blow in the neighborhood of .20+. Quite a few in the nearly dead category of .28. These people would have been stopped and arrested if they would have had the luck of passing, or being followed by a law enforcement officer. There would be no need for roadblocks, or “drunk traps” outside watering holes.
I read that a 25 year old healthy male with a .12 BAC has the judgement and reflexes of a 70 year old sober healthy adult.
I don’t drink either and agree - and I hear reports of some wanting it lower.
He pulled over behind me and walked up to the window.
"I see you got a beer there."
Yep.
"I've got a question for you."
OK
"Do you have an extry"
We drank beer and shot the bull for half an hour. Never saw another car.
I love Montana.
“I know how I feel after five beers in two hours. There’s no way I, or anybody else should be behind the wheel at that level.”
That’s you.
When I drink to party, it takes me half a bottle (~7 big shots) downed within the first hour just to feel something. I pretty much quit drinking like that because it wrecks my stomach and all I feel is a little buzz. I have a rare scotch or rum once in a while for the taste. Haven’t been drunk in years.
I’ve never felt a thing from regular beer. The “high gravity” brews do something but they usually taste bad.
Several of my friends(including cops) have breathalyzers and I estimated my BAC when I am actually intoxicated(difficulty walking a line) to be around 0.20.
BAC is a flawed measure of true impairment. There should be a test that measures your reaction time, motor skills, etc instead. Or even better, outlaw all drinking and driving so people don’t get arrested for thinking they are under some arbitrary limit.
Most people drive better when they’re drunk because they’re more careful.
define “under the influence”, ya jerk
Someone with horse sense finally shows up. The comments on this thread is proof that propaganda is the most precise method of communication in America.
There was nothing wrong when the standard of DWI was EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY. The officer pulled someone over because they were exhibiting signs of inability to drive. From there they would have the freedom to use their own judgement, lastly they would administer a roadside, then the breathalyzer.
It can be proven that nearly all DUI arrests are for those in the .05 to .13 range. I personally know of a person that was arrested and convicted for blowing a .05. She was pulled over after leaving a watering hole at around 9 PM.
They were fishing for money, the same as they do with seat belt violations, and left lane violations. Recently they have begun giving out $248 tickets if you don’t move at least one lane away from a patrolman parked on the shoulder with lights on. The entire lane next to where the patrolman is parked is now a NO DRIVE ZONE.
I have no problem with throwing people in jail for extended periods of time for repeat offenses, just make sure those offenses were not ticky tack traffic stops.
Lastly, it is killing a way of life, most certainly. I used to bowl on Sunday nights in a 40 team mixed league. That was nearly 200 people having a good time, drinking a few beers, eating dinners, snacks, playing pull tabs, and consuming tobacco. When the DUI standards went into effect, and people found out that 2 beers in an hour was enough to put you in the pokey, they quit drinking at all. They decided to quit going out at all. They quit smoking, they drank at home, but alleys all over America were shut down. The taverns, which used to be where people got together on weekends, or for pool tournaments, dances or for fun, disappeared. All this to possibly save ONE LIFE, which is the standard put forward by MADD and the cops.
The costs clearly outweigh the benefits in DUI policies. The cost of less Constitutional freedom, the cost in economic activity, the loss of property rights from seizures before conviction, conviction by self incrimination, conviction from refusal to self incriminate. I say FRACK MADD, they are a boil on the buttocks of this country. They are in the same category as ELF, Globull warmers and the homeless with “God Bless” on their signs.
Anyone want to guess my opinion on obesity in American adults? Everyone is sitting on their posteriors, eating snack food, while straining to get ONE MORE DAY out of life, instead of MORE LIFE out of the day. THAT is the very essence of it. That is my story, and I am sticking to it.
and YES, I have modified my behavior, but I still remember the absolute feeling of freedom in American life. We may live longer, we may be safer, but G-D it, we were happier as a people then.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AMEN!
I am so sick of these dam pseudo conservative nanny staters...there are no words to describe my disgust.
MADD is the driving factor behind all of this and they are nothing more than the alcohol equivalent of the tobacco nazi's.........
Read their websites, their sole purpose is to ban alcohol completely............
You are right. What began as a crusade against drunk driving is now a crusade against drinking and driving.
I work in a prison counseling substance abuse offenders, many of whom are now sent to prison for first offenses. These guys need interventions, treatment, whatever...but they are getting prison sentences because the screws keep turning only one way. I have guys that got inside their car in a bar parking lot without keys in the ignition, and were still busted by the police. Others hadn’t put the car in drive and were arrested anyway. Others were on bicycles.
These are otherwise good men who are separated from their jobs and families and sent to prison to learn how to become real criminals. The murderers and rapists have high powered lawyers and the ACLU to get them off.
These guys almost always get public defenders who give their cases little effort. The repeat offenders will often tell you they deserve prison and are sorry. Many here would be shocked at the decency of these men. But the heavy yowlers on threads like these would want no doubt them to be punished further.
And if any of the nutcase, know it all, fascist pukes on this thread want to call me a drunk driver, I haven’t had a drink since 1989. I don’t drink at all, let alone drink and drive. Most of these people could goose step and work for TSA. They love the government as much as the libs do, but only as long as it harasses who they want it to harass.
Someday this gigantic, superlegal, P.C government will come for these folks too.
People are as afraid of Liberty in the same manner a long time prisoner is afraid of life outside of the bars. I must say though, the “water” of freedom was cold, but downright refreshing and “liberating”.......I MISS IT A LOT, WHERE HAVE YOU GONE AMERICA?
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