The Legislature's Considering Creating a Public Drunk Driver Registry. Should They? [View all]
Publicly shaming convicted sex offenders is nothing new. Relatively few people object to their names and photos being plastered on the Internet as a scarlet letter tattooed to their foreheads for all to see. There's a plausible argument to be made that this helps promote public safety by alerting neighbors and the community to a potential threat.
But what about drunk drivers? Do they deserve to bear the same mark of shame as child molesters and rapists?
That's the question being debated today in Austin as the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee considers state Representative Richard Raymond's HB 133, which would create a searchable database -- names, photos, addresses and birthdays included -- of anyone convicted of certain "intoxication-related" offenses.
The offenses that would earn such a public shaming are: DWI; DWI with a child passenger; intoxication assault; and intoxication manslaughter. Raymond offers a rather conspicuous exemption for anyone convicted under the Texas penal code of assembling/operating an amusement ride while intoxicated, a clear pander to the drunk carnie lobby.
More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/03/the_legislatures_considering_m.php .
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