More Georgians refusing sobriety tests

By Jessica Towne

The number of people refusing the sobriety test in Georgia doubled, from 5,608 in 2008 to 11,480 in 2013.

The Georgia Health News service recently published an article that manged to turn this fact into the basis for calling for more DUI convictions. You see, the State of Georgia collects lots of tax money to fund various projects when someone is convicted of DUI. And MADD wants us to believe that DUI convictions are down because drivers are taking advantage of the legal system, when in fact, some drivers are exercising their constitutional and statutorily granted rights. MADD and Georgia prosecutors  think the conviction rate is down because more drivers are exercising their right to refuse a breath or blood test.

Perhaps more drivers are aware that they don't have to take field sobriety tests alongside the road when they're asked to step out of their cars those tests are voluntary. Most times, the evidence a driver "volunteers" is what gets one arrested, breath test or no breath test. 

I think the rest of the statistics in that article leave a lot of unanswered questions:

How many people were arrested for DUI in 2008, and how many in 2013?Of those arrested, how many were found to be unlawfully stopped?Of those arrested, how many were found to be unlawfully arrested?Of those arrested, how many were found not guilty after trial?

I understand that drunk drivers account for some accidents resulting in injuries and deaths on Georgia highways. But most DUI arrests do not involve crashes.  MADD and the other agencies that lobby legislative bodies should answer these questions before they decide that more and more of us ought to be convicted of DUI. Have they even considered that perhaps drivers are getting the message?  Maybe we simply don't drink and drive as much we used to. Did that statistical analysis consider that we instead call cabs, we designate drivers who stay sober, we use Uber and Lyft, and we don't let our friends drink and drive?

Statisticians, I'm all ears. 

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Kansas Moves To Punish Refusing to Incriminate Yourself in DUI Cases

I’ve posted long and hard over the years about the inaccuracy and unreliability of breathalyzers.  See How Breathalyzers Work – and Why They Don’t.  But at least you could always refuse to take the test.  You aren’t required to incriminate yourself, right?  I mean, this is America and we have the Constitution to protect us.

Maybe not.  This looks like yet another in a long list of constitutional rights that are slowly disappearing in DUI cases.  See, for example, The DUI Exception to the Constitution, The Disappearing Right to Jury Trial…in DUI Cases, DUI and the Disappearing Right to Counsel, Are DUI Roadblocks Constitutional? and Forced Blood Draws by Cops: Constitutional?.

House Votes to Criminalize DUI Test Refusals

Topeka, KS.  May 17 —  After a lengthy discussion of constitutional rights, the House has approved a bill that makes it a crime for suspected repeat offenders to refuse a drunk-driving test…

Under Senate Bill 60, drivers with a DUI conviction or prior refusal of a DUI test would automatically be guilty of a misdemeanor if they refuse a test. The penalty would be the same as for a DUI conviction.

The House passed the bill 103-13, but not without some concerns expressed by members that it “tramples” the right to remain silent when accused of a crime.

Rep. Sean Gatewood, D-Topeka, said he’s seen many drunk driving crashes and the harm they cause working as a firefighter and paramedic.

But he said he was not comfortable with making it a crime to refuse to take a breath or blood test.

“These are American citizens and they have the right to remain silent, which this bill sort of tramples on, because if you just stand there silent … then you’re a criminal,” Gatewood said. “You have your 4th and 5th Amendment rights … and I just think there is no greater ridge to stand on than the Constitution of the United States.”

Gatewood proposed to send the measure back to a House-Senate conference committee for further work, but that motion died on a 23-88 vote.

Rep. Pat Colloton, R-Leawood, who carried the bill on the floor, acknowledged that its impact on constitutional rights was an important issue, but on balance she supported it.

She said courts are being clogged with repeat offenders who refuse the DUI test and take their chances with a jury.

Some lawmakers said stopping drunk drivers outweighed the constitutional questions.

“I would gladly walk the line, breathe into the tube and draw my blood if it would get repeat drunk drivers off the road,” said Rep. Bill Otto, R-LeRoy. “This is about people who are killing people.”

“This is not about constitutional rights,” he continued. “What about the constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? (a phrase from the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution) When you’re killed by a drunk driver, they’ve deprived you of your life. Death penalty, when you did nothing wrong.”

So….if you refused to incriminate yourself, you would be convicted of a crime and given the same sentence as if you had been convicted of drunk driving.  In other words, you are basically convicted of drunk driving because you wouldn’t incriminate yourself!

Another constitutional right slowly fades away….

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 19th, 2012 at 8:33 am and is filed under Duiblog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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