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Published Thursday, February 02, 2012 in Local
Bill making DUI with child a felony hits speed bump
By WALTER C. JONES
Morris News Service
ATLANTA – Legislation that would turn a second drunk-driving arrest into a felony if one of the passengers each time was a child hit a small pothole Tuesday when a Senate committee couldn't find the paperwork.
A bill doubling the fine for contempt of court ran into the same snag.
Sen. Lester Jackson, D-Savannah, said his drunk-driving legislation, Senate Bill 13, is needed to save lives because research shows that the average drunk driver has gotten behind the wheel inebriated 80 times before getting the first citation for driving under the influence.
"These minors have no control over what the drunk driver does," he said.
Sen. Donzella James, D-Atlanta, applauded Jackson, noting that his legislation incorporates one of her own bills.
"Clearly, after one DUI, one should choose not to get behind the wheel," she said. "It is a child-endangerment (prevention) bill."
The committee approved it unanimously but reversed itself when the staff realized a technical problem. The same Senate Special Judiciary Committee had approved a version of the measure last year only to see it still pending in the Senate Rules Committee when the session ended.
All pending bills in Rules got returned to their original committees for consideration again this session. However, the Special Judiciary staff didn't have copies of the bill from Rules in time for Tuesday's meeting.
SB107 met the same fate. Sen. Jesse Stone, R-Waynesboro, sponsored the bill at the request of local judges asking to raise the fine for contempt of court, or failing to follow a judge's order. The $500 fine hasn't changed in 25 years.
"After that long, that amount doesn't have the same impact it used to," Stone said, adding that some judges wanted to raise it to $3,000 to pack a bigger wallop.
Both bills will come up again in the Special Judiciary Committee next Tuesday and head back to Rules to await their chance to come before the full Senate. If passed by the Senate, they'll need approval by the House before going to the governor on their way to becoming law.
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It's not in keeping with legal and moral principles to compare children to adults under the law. Young children can't drive legally, so they are at the mercy of the drunk parent or guardian that puts them at risk. OF course these sociopaths put society at risk, too.
Adults have the choice of not riding with the impaired driver. Adult passengers in the vehicle can and should be charged with public drunk, as they are in the public domain if they are knowingly riding with the impaired sociopath.
With all that said, no reason to make it a felony--just triple the fines, statewide, not at the discretion of the local judge. Seize the vehicle on the second offense, and mandatory 30 days to dry them out.
This drunkard Georgia legislature push to remove DUIs from the record of these sociopaths after five years, well, how evil. Drug test the legislature--they work and drink on our tab. Have them name the law for the drunk sociopath who ran over the Atlanta cop. Unbelievable--the same lame thinking that was around 50 years ago, when DUI deaths were called "accidents" and "God's will".
Posted by gouged ratepayer at 1:51 PM
Just another way to make money. Why does it matter if it's an adult or child? A person is a person right? Children's lives aren't more special than an adult just because they are younger.
Posted by cmc at 12:41 PM
First thing is Ive never had a DUI and I don't drink.
The statistic you never see is DUI's are down about 70% from 1980.
So getting tough on DUI's has worked and that is a good thing.
That being said I see no point in making this charge a felony.
They can already put you in jail for a year for the DUI....They never do on the first one.
Use the laws on the books.
This state this country has more people in jail or prison than any other country in the world.
Posted by Ken at 12:21 PM
Thats an awesome idea. DUIs in GA are way to cheap! Currently stationed in TX and it will cost an offender about 17000 bucks..not to many people decide to repeat that mistake!
Posted by Soldier at 12:13 PM
These times 500 dollars is alot of money for most people I am not some highly paid judge. Felony for driving a minor under the influence of alcohol why make it so the person is a non functioning member of society because of an error in judgement. Three duis in a 5 year spand is already a felony.
Posted by ron at 11:42 AM
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Use laws already on the books
2/2/2012
Link To This Comment
Well said, Ken. There are plenty of laws on the books already that pertain to it.
Posted by HND at 2:31 PM