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Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said: "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."'Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis.Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes...

McLEAN -- A Fairfax County judge has ruled that key components of Virginia's drunken-driving laws are unconstitutional, citing an obscure, decades-old U.S. Supreme Court decision that could prompt similar challenges nationwide. Virginia's law is unconstitutional because it presumes that an individual with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 or higher is intoxicated, denying a defendant's right to a presumption of innocence, Judge Ian O'Flaherty ruled in dismissing charges against at least two alleged drunken drivers last month. As a district judge, O'Flaherty's rulings do not establish any formal precedent, but word of the constitutional argument is spreading quickly among the defense...

I know we like to post news stories on this board and go OMG OMG OMG teh udder side teh suXorZ!!11! It's rare that anyone really writes anything somewhat original so, here, I'll do something like that. I'm amazed at some of the twists that are going on in political and legal life right now. So much so that I really think it's worth commenting on. In some ways, we're going in the absolute wrong direction. Now before you get a knee jerk reaction and say i'm a "traitor" or some DUmmie here to quiety say "It's because of Bu$hco...

Several of my recent threads / comments have related to a DUI arrest I recently had. I will not defend that. One of the more interesting subjects which came up when I was in jail was whether you can be arrested for "drunk in public" when you are on your own property. My position is that this should not be possible. I like to sit out on my front porch, have a drink or three, and study my shubbery. I am not driving or doing anything else which I consider to be wrong. The overwhelming consensus among my cell-mates is...

Resnick admitted to having a drink; Justice told police officer that she had 'something' Resnick Zoom By JIM PROVANCE BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU COLUMBUS - Ohio Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick admitted to an Ohio Highway Patrol sergeant that she had indeed had something to drink before she was pulled over Monday afternoon for driving under the influence. She had repeatedly denied having consumed alcohol or taken medication when first approached by police at a gas station in Bowling Green and later when pulled over on I-75 South near Cygnet in Wood County. But later, just as Sgt. W.H. Stidham...

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- A jury awarded $60 million Tuesday to the family of a 7-year-old girl who was paralyzed when a drunken football fan on his way home from a New York Giants game crashed into the family's car. Antonia Verni of Cliffside Park was 2 years old when the crash happened in 1999 in Hasbrouck Heights. Her family was headed home from a pumpkin-picking trip. The family sued Aramark, the Giants Stadium concessionaire that sold beers to Daniel Lanzaro, saying the company was partly responsible for the crash. The jury deliberated for a day and a half before reaching...

A New Jersey jury has assessed $105 million in compensatory and punitive damages against Aramark Corp., the nation's leading arena concessionaire, in the case of a girl paralyzed in a crash with a driver drunk on beer served at a Giants football game. The father of the victim says the award will make liquor vendors and arenas do a better job of enforcing their rules against selling alcohol to fans who appear to be intoxicated. The evidence in the case against Aramark showed the driver had consumed the equivalent of 16 12-ounce beers, mostly at Giants Stadium in the Hackensack...