[Vision2020] DUIs [formerly highway]
Sunil Ramalingam
sunilramalingam@hotmail.com
Fri, 27 Feb 2004 09:56:48 -0800
<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV class=RTE>
<P>Wayne,</P>
<P>You cannot currently disqualify a judge in any criminal case in Idaho. The rule that permitted DQs has been suspended. Therefore there is no link between a judge's fear of being DQ'd and the sentences they hand out. One may think the sentences are too lenient, but that's another discussion; they have nothing to do with fears of being DQ'd.</P>
<P>DUI cases are often difficult to prove; that's why so many get bargained.</P>
<P>Sunil<BR><BR></P></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>>From: "Art Deco aka W. Fox" <DECO@MOSCOW.COM>
<DIV></DIV>>To: <VISION2020@MOSCOW.COM>
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] highway
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 08:28:25 -0800
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Sunil, et al,
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>I think that Idaho DUI and similar laws and their enforcement are way too
<DIV></DIV>>lax.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>I do not know about Latah County because the Daily News does not yet provide
<DIV></DIV>>us the public record information about citations and dispositions. But I
<DIV></DIV>>had at one time extensive knowledge about the three northern Idaho counties.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>I think the sentencing is way too lax. Plea bargains down to inattentive
<DIV></DIV>>driving are far, far too common. With regard to DUIs PA's are slothful
<DIV></DIV>>simply lack the balls to get tough. Judges are so afraid of initial
<DIV></DIV>>disqualifications and the resulting assignment to non-local venues that DUI
<DIV></DIV>>sentencings are about the same as they were 30 years ago after adjustment
<DIV></DIV>>for inflation. Because of the disqualification rule, sentencing follows the
<DIV></DIV>>LCD of the magistrate pool.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>I think at least 10 days of jail time should be required for first time
<DIV></DIV>>offenders; instead of 20 hours of community service there should be 200
<DIV></DIV>>hours. 200 hours of week-end inconvenience may have some real deterring
<DIV></DIV>>power for the first time offender. Effective programs need to be mandatory
<DIV></DIV>>for those diagnosed with drinking and other substance abuse problems and
<DIV></DIV>>paid for, where possible, by the offenders themselves. The counseling in
<DIV></DIV>>place now is a cruel joke. Stiff mandatory minimum sentence and fines
<DIV></DIV>>guidelines need to be statutorily set to offset the effects of the
<DIV></DIV>>disqualification rule.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Several years ago an intoxicated Moscow woman murdered three Native
<DIV></DIV>>Americans in Kootenay County in a DUI incident. Her sentence was three
<DIV></DIV>>years, served not at the state pen but on week-ends at the Latah County
<DIV></DIV>>jail. What kind of deterrence is this? What kind of retribution for
<DIV></DIV>>irresponsible, murderous behavior is this? What message to potential
<DIV></DIV>>offenders does this send?
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>I do not know what is in place now, but a about 25 years ago British
<DIV></DIV>>Columbia enacted DUI legislation that very significantly reduced DUI related
<DIV></DIV>>injuries and fatalities. Failing a field sobriety test, an offender's
<DIV></DIV>>vehicle was impounded and not released until the case was heard without a
<DIV></DIV>>large hassle, if follow-up tests were positive. Several days of jail time
<DIV></DIV>>were mandatory for first offenders as well as a minimum $2500 fine. Second
<DIV></DIV>>time offenders lost driving privileges for at least a year and sometimes up
<DIV></DIV>>to five years. DWP brought immediate prolonged jail time and another very
<DIV></DIV>>large fine and could lead to permanent vehicle confiscation.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>In Finland several years ago the third DUI brought a life sentence in
<DIV></DIV>>prison. The DUI rate dropped drastically!
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>These are severe measures and certainly take a toll on the offender's family
<DIV></DIV>>(who do have some influence over the offender's behavior in many cases) but
<DIV></DIV>>they have worked well to protect potential innocent victims of criminally
<DIV></DIV>>irresponsible behavior.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Respectfully,
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Wayne Fox
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> ----- Original Message -----
<DIV></DIV>> From: Sunil Ramalingam
<DIV></DIV>> To: DonovArn@aol.com ; pkraut@moscow.com ; vision2020@moscow.com
<DIV></DIV>> Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 10:21 PM
<DIV></DIV>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] highway
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> Pat,
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> Thank you for your clarification. I commute to Lewiston daily, so I have
<DIV></DIV>>an interest in improvements to Highway 95. Yet I oppose the proposed
<DIV></DIV>>Paradise Ridge route, not necessarily for environmental reasons. I think
<DIV></DIV>>the Transportation Department intentionally offered two bad plans, with the
<DIV></DIV>>goal of building the Paradise Ridge route. They knew that the many people
<DIV></DIV>>who live along 95 now would mobilize and oppose that option. What other
<DIV></DIV>>options were looked at prior to winnowing down the choices? Why were these
<DIV></DIV>>two the 'best' choices? On winter days I check out the ridge to see how
<DIV></DIV>>much fog is sitting where the proposed road will run. I don't believe that
<DIV></DIV>>putting the highway up there is going to make me safer.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> I wonder why they didn't include an option that would run the highway
<DIV></DIV>>parallel to the state line, and connect with HY 8 around Walmart. I realize
<DIV></DIV>>that some downtown merchants would oppose this, but would this necessarily
<DIV></DIV>>harm Moscow's economy?
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> I would like to pass this message along: Just because it's snowing does
<DIV></DIV>>not mean one must drive down Reisenauer Hill at 10 - 15 miles an hour. I've
<DIV></DIV>>come up behind someone doing this twice now, and it hasn't been fun. I
<DIV></DIV>>wasn't going over 40 either time, but it was still pretty hairy.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> Donovan, I find it interesting that you think Idaho is too lax on drunk
<DIV></DIV>>drivers. One of the Kootenai County deputy prosecutors recently had a
<DIV></DIV>>column in the Spokesman-Review attacking Washington's ''lax" DUI laws, and
<DIV></DIV>>complained that Washington doesn't have a felony DUI law; he contrasted
<DIV></DIV>>Idaho's wonderful felony DUI statute and argued that Washington should
<DIV></DIV>>follow our legislature's example. He campaigned to be a judge in Spokane in
<DIV></DIV>>the last election, and I took the column to be his opening salvo in his next
<DIV></DIV>>campaign. Now that you've identified our approach to DUIs as lax, he may
<DIV></DIV>>have to pick a new state to champion.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> Sunil
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
<DIV></DIV>>--
<DIV></DIV>> Store more e-mails with MSN Hotmail Extra Storage 4 plans to choose
<DIV></DIV>>from! _____________________________________________________ List services
<DIV></DIV>>made available by First Step Internet, serving the communities of the
<DIV></DIV>>Palouse since 1994. http://www.fsr.net mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com
<DIV></DIV>>ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
<DIV></DIV></div><br clear=all><hr> <a href="http://g.msn.com/8HMAENUS/2746??PS=">Take off on a romantic weekend or a family adventure to these great U.S. locations.</a> </html>