NCJ Number
161418
Journal
Alcohol, Drugs and Driving Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: (January-March 1992) Pages: 1-15
Date Published
1992
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This is an examination of the thesis that prosecutors should consider larger missions which might more expressly look to DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) accidents and injuries.
Abstract
Indiana prosecutors have chosen different missions in combating drunk driving. Although prosecutorial performance can be improved in many ways, legislative goals dominate, coupled with the knowledge that the codification need not be exclusively criminal in nature. These goals include increasing the certainty of conviction and speed of sanctioning through evidentiary and procedural improvements, and deterring repeat offenders through enhanced sentences. Prosecutors should consider as a more significant mission the need to reduce deaths and injuries. In this category the efficacy of the sanction is the overriding concern. There should also be an attempt to quickly and consistently remove dangerous drivers from the road, fitting together criminal and civil laws. The period between arrest and administrative suspension and the period between arrest and disposition of the criminal case should be shortened. In addition to examining the points noted above, this paper reviews legal and prosecutorial reforms, and how the pressure from sanctioning limitations affects policy decisions. Figures, footnotes, references