January 9, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
ACLU, Joined by Substance Abuse Experts, Says Push for Punitive Legislation
is Ungrounded
PROVIDENCE, RI -- The American Civil Liberties Union
of Rhode Island today released a 35-page report that challenges recent, highly
publicized claims about Rhode Island's high alcohol fatality accident rate and
the accompanying push for punitive drunk driving legislation at the State House
this year. The report was released at a news conference today at which the ACLU
and the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association of Rhode Island (DATA) called for
an emphasis on treatment and other non-punitive measures to address the problem
of drunk driving.
"Although any drunk driving fatality is one too
many, efforts to eradicate this problem should not be premised on misleading
statistics or ungrounded expectations about the utility of punitive laws," said
Steven Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU of Rhode Island. "The ACLU report
is an attempt to correct the many misconceptions about statistics and
misunderstandings of some of the laws and police practices at issue, and to
counter the unintentionally misleading use of some statistics regarding drunk
driving in the state."
Based largely on national reports
describing Rhode Island as having the worst ranking in the country when it comes
to drunk driving alcohol fatalities, there have been many calls for swift
legislative action this year to address the state's DUI problem. Such actions
include bills that would criminalize sanctions for breathalyzer refusals and
allow police to obtain warrants to forcibly extract bodily fluids from suspected
drivers for chemical testing, and efforts to have the state Supreme Court
reconsider a court ruling banning the use of drunk driving roadblocks - all
proposals that pose potentially significant ramifications for civil
liberties, the ACLU said
In its report, the ACLU charges that the
particular statistic used to rate Rhode Island as the worst in terms of drunk
driving fatalities is a very misleading one. In fact, according to data compiled
by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the state's
alcohol fatality rate has been routinely lower than the national average for
more than 20 years. But because Rhode Island's overall rate of accident
fatalities is lower than the national average, the percentage of alcohol-related
fatalities appears so high, according to the report. The ACLU also cites NHTSA
statistics showing there were 42 fatal alcohol-related crashes in Rhode Island
in 2004, down 21 percent from the previous year and the lowest total since
2000.
Moreover, the ACLU report sheds light on current DUI laws and
presents facts that call into question the need for or effectiveness of punitive
measures the state's lawmakers are currently considering.
Among
the findings presented in the ACLU's report are:
- Contrary to popular
belief, a driver cannot avoid a DUI arrest (or conviction) by refusing to take a
breathalyzer test. In fact, the test isn't offered until after the DUI arrest
has already taken place. Thus, police who drop criminal DUI charges against
drivers who have refused a breathalyzer test do so by choice, not because of
prohibitions in the law.
- One of the biggest
problems in terms of DUI enforcement does not appear
to be the absence of strict
laws, but instead a failure by some police
departments to make drunk driving a
priority. In that regard, DUI
arrest rates in Rhode Island have been close to
the lowest in the
nation for more than a
decade.
- Rhode Island's
breathalyzer refusal penalties are typical of, or higher than, those in most
other states. At the same time, the state's DUI penalties are also generally
higher than those in most other
states.
- Few states in
the country treat breathalyzer refusal as a criminal offense. Rhode Island's
civil penalties for refusal are not a "loophole" unique to the state.
The ACLU report concludes by noting that strategies to reduce
drunk driving in the state need not sacrifice civil liberties in the process. It
emphasizes non-punitive approaches to the drunk driving problem, including
increased availability and funding of treatment programs, a suggestion that has
virtually gone unspoken during the months of debate on the
issue.
"Our goal in issuing this report is not to suggest that
state officials should become complacent about the problem of drunk driving,"
said Brown. "But our research does call into question many of the arguments
being used to demand prompt and harsh legislative responses to the issue, as
there are serious doubts about both their efficacy and need. We offer this
analysis in the most positive sense - to promote a more constructive,
knowledgeable and factually accurate debate on this important social
issue."
Supporting the conclusions of the
ACLU report, DATA's Executive Director Neil A. Corkery added: "Research
demonstrates that a far more effective method of dealing with this complex issue
is to provide much-needed treatment strategies that have proved successful in
addressing the real issue underlying this public health scourge: alcoholism and
drug addiction." He noted that his organization and its substance abuse
treatment and prevention service providers have supported measures to remove
impaired drivers from the road, including support of .08 legislation, but
cautioned against the punitive proposals examined in the
report.
The ACLU's report,
Blurred Vision: A Sober Re-Examination
of Rhode Island's Drunk Driving "Crisis", is available online at
http://www.riaclu.org/friendly/documents/DUIreportfinal.pdf
