Should poor people not be punished for a DUI?

[~~whimsy~~]

Low-income drivers caught driving drunk or without a license may get a break in paying their fines.

The Texas Department of Public Safety is now taking public comment on a proposal that would reduce the fines for people living near or below the federal poverty line if they're convicted of a Class C misdemeanor.

That type of offense includes driving without insurance, driving without a valid license and driving while intoxicated.

"The changes are meant to get more people to comply with the fines and be able to drive with a valid license," said Lisa Block, a department spokeswoman. "Any changes still need to be approved, though, and that process can take up to two months to happen."

Since 2003, Texas drivers who don't pay the fine for certain Class C misdemeanors have their licenses revoked.

But a bill written by state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, and passed last year by the Legislature calls for the reduction of fines for low-income drivers.

The proposed changes to the law, which is officially known as the Driver Responsibility Program, would lower fines for people making under $24,000, or families that on average have a combined income of less than $50,000.

In El Paso County, the median household income was $36,519 in 2008 and 25 percent of the population was living below the federal poverty line, figures from the U.S. Census showed.

Officials at Shapleigh's offices said Monday that he would not be available for comment on this story.

Some El Paso residents said they were glad to hear that changes could come to help them better cope with traffic infractions.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_14638095

I feel if people don't want to pay a huge fine and, well, ultimately have to face up to a myriad of consequences DON'T FUCKING COMMIT CRIMES!

This is so stupid. Now people will know they can commit the crime(s) and depending on situation they can get off with little to next to no punishment.

Tough shit if the poor can't pay their fines or anything. The substitute is jail time if you can't pay up.

Damn. What's the point in having anymore laws if they aren't going to be used.

Actually, Judge Joe Brown says it best:

If you can't do the time. If you can't pay the fine. Don't commit the crime.

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

Another bit of tribute legislation for the late Chappaquiddick Ted.

 

[Will E Worm]

A crime is a crime. Everyone must be punished the same way. :hammer:

"But a bill written by state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, and passed last year by the Legislature calls for the reduction of fines for low-income drivers."

Eliot will be severally punished for his actions.

We will being with flogging.

 

[Peter Gazinya]

pay the fine or do the time, one or the other. Can't discriminate based on ability to pay. The next thing you know they'll be trying to do that with health care. Oh, wait a minute....

 

[Mauser98k]

EVERYBODY should be punished for DUI

 

[Lust]

i would have thought Texas would be the last place a law like that would pass. This is the same state that was arresting people for drinking in bars a few years back. one weekend they took in over 250 people for drinking..................................in a bar.

i would think texas would pass a law saying police are allowed to execute you if you are found drinking while intoxicated. and by intoxicated they mean if you happened to driving by a bar or any other establishment that sold alcohol without actually drinking any of it.

 

[assholebythedoor]

no they should not

 

[Philbert]

i would have thought Texas would be the last place a law like that would pass. This is the same state that was arresting people for drinking in bars a few years back. one weekend they took in over 250 people for drinking..................................in a bar.

i would think texas would pass a law saying police are allowed to execute you if you are found drinking while intoxicated. and by intoxicated they mean if you happened to driving by a bar or any other establishment that sold alcohol without actually drinking any of it.

What is with all you lame people who just think dissing Texas is a way to sound sorta smart...it really makes you sound as dumb as you are.
San Faggotcisco? Home of Nancy Pelosi? Sanctuary City for MS 13? Please...

DWI is cheap no matter how much the fine is if you are wealthy...pay a good lawyer, put out some cash, and drink yourself shitfaced and drive home at 75...as often as you feel like it; where's the justice in that?
The fine is not a choice if ya don't have the money...$500 or $12,000 is the same amount if ya got $250.
I would like to see a seriously higher fine for wealthier perps, not a reduction for mostly illegals who drink up a big chunk of their paychecks, then drive home in their uninsured 2009 pickups.
The driver can go to jail, sure, but the poor family is left without any income, and that is a problem.
I hate fuckin' drunks no matter where they are to be found, but at least something is being thought about to fix a problem...I think that when we reduce the illegal population we will seriously reduce the DWI problem.
Actually I know that it will.

 

[Ace Bandage]

Poor people should be punished for being poor. Get an education and better yourself. I'm tired of seeing my tax dollars given away to people on welfare who shouldn't be procreating anyway. Why should I be responsible for your six kids when your fat ass doesn't even have a job? I'll just stop now. If I recommend shooting poor people, I'm sure somebody will have a problem and take offense to the idea.

 

[Baill Inneraora]

Fucking Red States

 

[PlumpRump]

Does anyone else find it just a tad ironic that the proposed change in legislation is being referred to as the "Driver Responsibility Program?" Regardless of the merits of the issue, it seems laughable to me that a program designed to essentially lower the ammount of fiscal responsibility that an individual is accountable for after committing a traffic violation is named the "Driver Responsibility Program." I would think that a program with that moniker would be targeted towards increasing the ammount of responsibility placed on those found to be committing infractions, rather than lessening it...

 

[Elwood70]

They must not be that low income if they can afford that much alcohol.

 

[Philbert]

They must not be that low income if they can afford that much alcohol.

C'mon, you know better than that...
a millionaire doesn't spend hardly any fraction of his wealth on booze, percentage wise; this is the opposite for a poorer man, but someone making $35,000 -$50,000 a year isn't well off by any means, and has bills and family that can eat up the paycheck.
Drinking $50-$100 worth of booze at a bar (including buying you a few drinks) isn't a major amount of money, yet more than they should be spending on liquor...but who wants to give up loud music, friends and loose women, and a great buzz on Saturday night? Especially if you don't get to go on vacations to the Carribean, Las Vegas, etc? But $30 worth of Jack Daniels can get you a DWI...
The lawyers and fines after a DWI are astronomical to a small income...and every drunk fool thinks he/she won't get caught driving.
So, the well off get to DWI a lot, and the poorer don't...not too cool.

However...it may seem like a good idea, but in practice it may indeed encourage more dumb drunks driving home, or anywhere, if the fog they use for a brain remembers that it's cheaper for them to get a DWI now...

Years ago it was thought better to give free public school to the illegal's kids, so they wouldn't grow up dumb and become criminals.
So millions more illegals came for the free school and welfare...that turned out to be a bad idea with good intentions.

 

[calpoon]

DWI is cheap no matter how much the fine is if you are wealthy...pay a good lawyer, put out some cash, and drink yourself shitfaced and drive home at 75...as often as you feel like it; where's the justice in that?
The fine is not a choice if ya don't have the money...$500 or $12,000 is the same amount if ya got $250.
I would like to see a seriously higher fine for wealthier perps, not a reduction for mostly illegals who drink up a big chunk of their paychecks, then drive home in their uninsured 2009 pickups.
The driver can go to jail, sure, but the poor family is left without any income, and that is a problem.
I hate fuckin' drunks no matter where they are to be found, but at least something is being thought about to fix a problem...I think that when we reduce the illegal population we will seriously reduce the DWI problem.
Actually I know that it will.

Glad to see that someone is offering an intelligent analysis of the situation.

Although, I don't agree with your opinion on the contribution of illegal immigrants to the equation. There is obviously no distinction of status when it comes to drinking, pretty much everyone is getting shitfaced. As far as driving goes, I don't believe that more illegals are driving drunk than citizens, because I doubt that more illegals are driving vehicles to begin with. If there is in fact more illegal immigrant DUI's being issued I'd think it's simply because of racial profiling on the part of police.

Suspicion of drunk driving gives the cops pretty much any excuse to pull someone over (and by that I mean no excuse, as I was pulled over myself once for "taking that right turn a little sharp" among many other things that were not traffic violations). I know that many police offers are using that as an opportunity to reach outside of their job description to check immigration status (the state police are not the INS or Border Patrol and aren't in charge of enforcing federal laws). I know this because the infamous Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio has very publicly stated that he wants them to do just that.

 

[par]

What is DUI?

 

[slasher]

If you can't do the time. If you can't pay the fine. Don't commit the crime.

This. :thumbsup:

 

[PirateKing]

Only if they're so poor that they drive a moped instead of a car.

 

[~~whimsy~~]

So saw I get a DUI all I have to say to the judge is: I'm poor.

I will get off with a weak slap on the wrist, a stern look, and be given a sympathy card as I am leaving the courthouse??

Now if I make a decent amount of money and get a DUI, tell the judge: I'm not poor, but to pay these fines, will put me in the hole.

Then what? Will be fined more? Regularly fined? What? Either way what happened to laws being laws?

 

[calpoon]

Either way what happened to laws being laws?

Laws aren't just laws if you mean that every case is treated the same way.That is the reason why we have a justice system where a person is tried on an individual basis and the particular circumstances of the situation are what the judge and jury use to decide an appropriate sentence.

the truth is that if people are going to receive "equal" punishment, than as Philbert says, fining a millionaire $100 and fining a homeless person $100 is not equal, because it is far more of a punishment for one than the other.

The existing system already favors the wealthy. This just makes it more "equal".

 

[slasher]

So saw I get a DUI all I have to say to the judge is: I'm poor.

I will get off with a weak slap on the wrist, a stern look, and be given a sympathy card as I am leaving the courthouse??

Now if I make a decent amount of money and get a DUI, tell the judge: I'm not poor, but to pay these fines, will put me in the hole.

Then what? Will be fined more? Regularly fined? What? Either way what happened to laws being laws?

It is never a good idea to have some treated differently under the law.