It has been somewhat big news in the past week that a former President of the MADD chapter in Florida was charged with a DUI. This lady, who once crusaded against drunk driving, has now had her mugshot splashed all over the news as well as the fact that she blew nearly 3 times the legal limit on a breath test. The comments to the news story have been most hateful. The lady is a realtor and a mother, and all of this has, no doubt, taken a terrible toll on her and her family. Of course, the blatant hypocrisy is difficult to overcome. MADD works tirelessly to lobby for harsher penalties for people accused of DUI, shows up in court to try to intimidate judges and defendants, and condemns those who are merely accused of a DUI, particularly with a high breath test.
However, the former MADD President is not alone in this predicament. There is a long list of people who have found themselves accused after years of doing the accusing. Consider:
- A federal prosecutor in Rhode Island was charged with DUI after he refused a breath test.
- A Penn. State Trooper who was a “DUI Expert” was charged with a DUI after a crash.
- A Florida Trooper was arrested for DUI while on duty.
- A Penn. officer was charged with a DUI after a fatal crash.
- A California Judge known for being especially hard on DUI suspects was charged with DUI
- A South Carolina prosecutor was recently charged with DUI
- A Utah Trooper commanding the DUI Unit was charged with DUI
This list could go on forever. Just google “prosecutor charged with DUI”, or “officer” or “judge” and you will see that this is fairly common. In fact, we have seen in our state that some of the legislators who have been responsible for making Kansas DUI laws much harsher have themselves been charged with DUI. Many will recall that Kevin Yoder, who now represents Johnson County in the US Congress, voted to double the jail sentences for Kansas DUI suspects just before he, himself, was convicted of refusing to take a Preliminary Breath Test in Kansas.
The point is that a DUI accusation can happen to just about anybody, from any walk of life. The DUI problem in America is not that the laws aren’t harsh enough. The people voting for and enforcing these laws are getting DUI’s themselves! We are all human and we all make mistakes and have lapses in our judgment. Long jail sentences and driver’s license suspensions that make it impossible to work and support a family are not the answer. Education, treatment and compassion are the answer. To err is human. To forgive is divine. To incarcerate is hypocritical.
UPDATE: An attorney from New Mexico who is well-known for filing lawsuits against drunk drivers was, himself, convicted last week of a DUI. He was alleged to have been under the influence of Adderall, a very common drug for which he had a prescription and allegedly was taking as prescribed. No doubt, he did not think he was too impaired to be driving, thus, he went to trial to fight the charge. He was found “guilty” and now is condemned, just like those he has previously condemned. Just goes to show that it can happen to anyone, and when you point a finger at someone you have 3 fingers pointing back at you.