Wyoming Lawmaker: Loophole Weakens DUI Device Law

A legal loophole may have allowed hundreds of people to avoid having devices installed in their vehicles designed to prevent them from driving after drinking, a lawmaker said.

The loophole has turned the ignition lock requirement into a negotiating point in some plea bargains, Sen. Drew Perkins told the Casper Star-Tribune in Sunday’s editions.

“There were probably several hundred first-time DUIs that would have been required to have ignition interlocks that didn’t happen,” said Perkins, a Casper Republican.

The law, which took effect last year, requires first-time drinking-and-driving offenders to have the devices on their vehicles for six months if their blood-alcohol level was 0.15 percent or more.

A second DUI conviction requires drivers to use the device for one year, and a third means using it for two years. With four or more DUI convictions, a driver must operate only vehicles with ignition control devices for life.

Perkins said the law relies only on blood-alcohol levels listed in paperwork filed after a DUI conviction. If the blood-alcohol level isn’t on those documents, the state can’t require the device, even if the level is listed on arrest documents.

State statistics show that fewer than 20 percent of the 745 drivers who met that criteria actually installed the devices between July 2009, when the program started, and the end of October.

Don Edington, manager of the state Transportation Department driver services program, said officials don’t know for certain why the others didn’t.

A total of 500 devices have been installed in that period, including first-time and repeat offenders, he said.

The law has other loopholes, the newspaper reported. Offenders can ignore the requirement to install the device, have their licenses suspended and continue to drive illegally.

Perkins said he plans to sponsor a bill in the next session to close the loopholes.

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Drinking to Keep Warm Defense Works in DUI Case

Employing an unusual but not untested tactic in defense against drunk driving charges, a Missouri man was acquitted by a jury of his DUI charges after testifying that he got drunk after crashing his car to keep warm, not before.

Thomas Drummond told the court he had been out with friends the night of the accident, reports The Southeast Missourian. While navigating icy conditions he missed a turn on an unfamiliar road, then attempted to turn around and drove into a culvert, he testified.

Drummond said he wasn’t intoxicated when he drove into the culvert but was two hours later when emergency workers and authorities arrived, the Missourian reports.

“It was the day before the Super Bowl and he had just done some shopping,” Defense Attorney Stephen Wilson said Monday. “It was 32 degrees or colder out and he had brandy in the car, so he kept warm.”

Earlier this year, Bravo TV’s Real Housewives of New Jersey star Joe Giudice made similar claims when he flipped his pickup truck late one night. After crawling out of his destroyed Ford truck, Giudice said on the TV show that he had a couple of shots of whiskey with friends who happened to live nearby to calm his nerves before police and emergency crews arrived.

Regardless, police took custody of Giudice because of outstanding municipal warrants and charged him with a DUI, reports The Newark Star-Ledger.

Giudice was not as lucky as Drummond, however, as he was fined $864, had his driver’s license revoked for 12 months and was sentenced to 30 days of community service, reports the Examiner.

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20 years ago, California’s Attorney General endorsed counties’ response to prison count

Added 20 years ago, California's Attorney General endorsed counties' response to prison count to the Prisoners of the Census Blog.

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Erratum

Special Edition on the ‘Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program’

Children Residing in Prison With Their Parents: An Example of Institutional Invisibility

This article presents the results of a study carried out in Finland on the position of children who accompany their parent to prison. The study consists of document analyses and staff and inmate interviews in the two Finnish prisons with special units for children. The results highlight the lack of information on children residing in prisons as well as the lack of guidelines for practice illustrated by the term "institutional invisibility." The term "institutional invisibility" informs about the vagueness of the prison practices in relation to children and their parents.

Traumatic Histories and Stressful Life Events of Incarcerated Parents II: Gender and Ethnic Differences in Substance Abuse and Service Needs

Substance abuse is increasingly common in prison inmates. This article presents findings on substance abuse and service needs of male and female inmate parents in Arizona, with a particular focus on gender and ethnic differences across inmates. A sample of 838 incarcerated fathers and 1,441 mothers completed anonymous questionnaires regarding traumatic and stressful events experienced as children and/or adults, including addiction. Exposure to childhood and adult traumatic events, especially child abuse, was related to self-reported alcohol and drug problems for both males and females. Mothers reported significantly more postrelease service needs than fathers. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.

Traumatic Histories and Stressful Life Events of Incarcerated Parents: Childhood and Adult Trauma Histories

Abuse and trauma are common in the histories of prison inmates. This article presents the results of research on the trauma histories and stressful life events experienced by 2,279 male and female inmate parents in Arizona, with a particular focus on gender and ethnic differences across inmates. A sample of 838 incarcerated fathers and 1,441 mothers completed anonymous questionnaires regarding traumatic and stressful events experienced as children and/or adults. High rates of exposure to childhood and adult traumatic events, especially child abuse, were found for both males and females and across ethnic groups.

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