NCJ Number
128653
Date Published
1990
Length
121 pages
Annotation
This project studied the sentencing of drunk driving offenders in Maryland's District Court during 1988 and 1989.
Abstract
While current practices of sentencing and treating offenders convicted of driving while intoxicated (DWI) or driving under the influence (DUI) appeared to work for most defendants, there was a small group of offenders for whom little appeared to work. Almost 20 percent of convicted offenders, including those with prior probation before judgment, had a subsequent DWI/DUI conviction. Observed variations in recidivism rates did not appear to be related to county of residence or type of sentence. Significant relationships were found, however, between recidivism and differences in defendant age and sex, number of prior DWI/DUI convictions, age of case at disposition, number of prior traffic violations, manner of case disposition, and presence of personal injury. About 8-11 percent of all offenders were under 21 years of age, and 56-61 percent were between 21 and 35 years of age. Older drivers over 45 years generally had a lower recidivism rate than younger drivers. Court dispositions and sentences in circuit courts were comparable to those imposed by the District Court. Length of jail sentence was not related to recidivism. Defendants with longer sentences tended to have only slightly higher recidivism rates than those with short sentences. The time from date of violation to final sentencing in the District Court was extremely long. Appendixes provide further information on Maryland DWI/DUI statutes, the survey methodology, and District Court caseload trends and include the survey forms. 70 figures