Southern Maine Criminal Lawyer Blog

New Year’s Eve is in two days.  The radio and papers are full of stories of DUI checkpoints.  If that doesn’t make you mad, you don’t understand DUI checkpoints.

DUI checkpoints do not make us safer. Nationally, out of 1000 drivers stopped, only three are arrested for DUI.  Police officers on regular patrols watching for erratic drivers are ten times more effective than DUI checkpoints.  If police are at checkpoints they are not on regular patrols and they are not catching drunk drivers.

So a thousand drivers are stopped.  Every one one of those drivers who has even one drink is hauled out of the car and made to perform roadside gymnastics to prove they are OK to drive.  Responsible drinkers are made to walk the line and balance on one foot in front of their neighbors.  That’s a pretty big intrusion into your liberty and mine.

The second big change in Maine DUI laws was changing when an OUI becomes a felony.

It used to be that a fourth DUI in ten years was a felony.  Now a third offense in ten years is a felony.  The maximum penalty jumps from 364 days in jail and a $2,000 fine, to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Felony convictions also affect civil rights and jobs.  A felon cannot serve in the military.  In many states a felon cannot vote or hold political office.  Many employers will not hire felons.  Before we take away these rights we better be very sure the person should be a felon.