Some Crimes Are Black And White

-- By GenesisSanchez - 01 Mar 2018

How To Get Away With Driving While Under The Intoxicated?

I’ve always been amazed by the number of individuals who are charged with drug possession with either and intent to sell or buy but how few individuals get charged with Driving Under the Influence. Working at a law firm in undergrad showed me just how easy it is for an individual to get away with driving under the influence and not have it go on their record or be sent to jail. Currently, with the technology available, i.e. breathalyzers, it is much easier to detect the blood alcohol content in a person’s blood than it is to determine exactly when and how much drugs were consumed by an individual. Yet still, despite the technology, if you are caught with drugs you will more than likely go to jail Easier to test for alcohol levels than it is for drug levels yet one offense is more likely to end up on your record, and sending you to jail, than the other.

Despite the level of emphasis given to driving under the influence, the law is full of loopholes that drives take advantage of. Loopholes that are enabled by prosecutorial discretion. In my experience working at a law firm as a legal assistant, I remember numerous times individuals came to us asking to be defended in driving under the influence cases. Through my experience, I discovered that whenever individuals get stopped for driving under the influence, in the State of Rhode Island, they should refuse the breathalyzer. Refusal of the breathalyzer is the key that is necessary to prevent the perpetrator from getting locked up. In refusing the breathalyzer test as well as other tests conducted by the police, the prosecution would charge them with refusing a breathalyzer and driving under the influence. The consequence that follows is that the prosecution will offer them a deal the majority of the time where if the individual pleads guilty to refusing the breathalyzer, the prosecutor will drop the DUI offense. The reason, when charged with refusal of breathalyzer and driving under the influence, the offenses are charged in two different courts, traffic tribunal and district court. In order to not have to deal with the hassle of attending a district court on a criminal charge and the traffic tribunal for the breathalyzer charge, prosecutors drop one and the individual driving under the influence gets away with it. They get a slap on the wrist, and a breathalyzer machine installed on their vehicles for a couple of months but nothing else follows. The record is wiped of the alcohol offense. All because it would be easier to close the case by getting the perpetrator to plead guilty to the lesser offense despite what it means for that individual’s future conduct.

Driving Under The Influence Of Alcohol Affects The Public More Than Drugs.

Alcohol kills people every day, and statistically many, if not most, fatal motor vehicle accidents are the result or caused by individuals driving under the influence of alcohol. Drug related motor vehicle accidents, are far and few between. Yet, driving while with drugs in the car will always be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It would appear to me that crimes that are more likely to affect a larger population should be punished more severely. While drug usage does impose costs on society, generally speaking, some drugs that receive harsh penalties will not result in the same mass outcome that driving under the influence does. The impairment of the driver is lesser when under the influence of drugs like Marijuana. On the other hand, the simple action of driving a car in a public road while intoxicated affects not just the driver but also passengers, pedestrians, and others driving on the road.

The only explanation I can think of for the discrepancy in punishment is the difference in the pigment of the offender’s skin. My theory is that the majority of drivers that get caught driving under the influence are white males with median incomes. While individuals who are prosecuted, and charged with drug offenses tend to be minorities, men of color. Looking at crimes like driving under the influence and petit drug offenses through a black and white lens helps explain the discrepancy in punishment.

To combat this unfair treatment of crimes that affect the general public, I would propose that whenever an individual is stopped for driving under the influence the prosecution is forced to pursue at least add a minimum mandatory sentence as provided for in a statute. The sentence could be forcing the driver to take AA classes, revoking the driver’s license, adding mandatory community service and reeducation classes, and monetary damages. There should also be a two-strike law where if you are caught driving under the influence twice, there are harsher punishments for it like a revocation of licenses and driving privileges for a set number amount of years along with some potential jail time. Driving under the influence is a serious offense and should be treated as such. Crimes against the public should be treated more seriously than crimes against oneself.

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