Punishment issues

October 18, 2008

October 4, 2008

  • Supreme Court Concludes that DUI is not a "Violent Felony" for Purposes of Armed Career Criminal Law

    Very few DUI cases find their way to the United States Supreme Court.  Generally DUI cases are a matter of state law and over the years, the Supreme Court has been fairly deferential to the arguments put forth by lawyers representing the government and police departments.  Obviously everyone supports the goal of removing impaired drivers from the road, and groups like MADD have done a good job in keeping political pressure on lawmakers to make DUI punishments harsher. (…)

July 2, 2008

  • Look Out - That Police Car is Bugged!

    Recently I did some legal work for a man who is employed by a local city government in the vehicle maintenance department.   One of his jobs is to maintain police cars.  We were talking about all of the high tech equipment now found in police cars and he mentioned in conversation that more and more police departments are putting recording equipment inside the patrol cars. (…)

April 17, 2008

  • Has DUI Punishment Become Punitive Rather Than Preventative?

    Take a look at this interesting opinion piece from a blogger community who calls itself "The Discovering Alcoholic."  The writer contends that the public at large does not necessarily benefit when state legislatures pass tougher and tougher DUI laws. (…)

September 26, 2006

March 9, 2006

March 6, 2006

March 3, 2006