Do DUI Laws apply equally?

[Meddle]

Last Updated: April 04. 2011 8:12PM
Prosecutor weighs charges against Detroit police commissioner
The Detroit News

Detroit — Wayne County's prosecutor confirmed today that criminal charges are being considered against a member of the Detroit Police Commission.

The Rev. Michael E. Reeves, a Detroit Police commissioner, was arrested early Friday for alleged drunken driving. His car hit a tree near Russell and Canfield, according to Detroit police Spokeswoman Sgt. Eren Stephens.

Reeves was released from custody later Friday when he paid $200 bond. Stephens said a request would be sent to the prosecutor for review.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110404/...e-commissioner

charges are being considered Considered?

Auto heiress Elena Ford to be charged today with drunken driving
Alisa Priddleand Mark Hicks / The Detroit News

Ferndale — An heiress to the Ford Motor Co. throne is expected in court today on drunken driving charges, her attorney said.

Elena Ford, 44, Henry Ford's great-great-granddaughter, was arrested late Sunday in Ferndale. She is accused of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

She also faces child endangerment charges because her son also was in the Ford Explorer she was driving.

Police wouldn't elaborate, but the SUV leaped a curb near Nine Mile and Woodward in Ferndale.

Todd Flood, her attorney, declined to elaborate on the case Monday night, calling it "a private matter."

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110405/...runken-driving

We'll see how this one plays out too. Or doesn't.

[RedeemerKid]

I found it mildly interesting that the Ford heiress seemingly took her mother's last name and not her father's.

[lpg]

I wonder if the phrase "Don't you know who i am" came into play.

[RedeemerKid]

I wonder if the phrase "Don't you know who i am" came into play.

Well, you can't walk out to the front of the building in the midst of a philosophical disagreement with a co-worker and point out that your name is on the building and not theirs, when your name is Niarchos instead of Ford.

[Lowell]

"Do DUI Laws apply equally?"

Paging Mr. L. Brooks Patterson

[MikeM]

I found it mildly interesting that the Ford heiress seemingly took her mother's last name and not her father's.

Maybe because she's divorced and so was her mother?

[MikeM]

charges are being considered Considered?

Isn't the prosecutor waiting for blood test results?

[slick]

"Do DUI Laws apply equally?"

Paging Mr. L. Brooks Patterson

Lowell you are correct,
oh its a reaction to my medication.

BUT
if the ordinary citizen does this, its off to jail, do not pass go, pay $5,000.

[bartock]

Do {fill in the blank} laws apply equally?

NO
NO
NO
NO

[Ray1936]

I'm not much of a drinker -- an occasional glass of wine is about it -- and I don't like drunk drivers one bit. But I've felt for a long time that .08 is far to low a marker to be considered over the line. It used to be .15, and that was a more realistic figure.

[Mr. Houdini]

I wonder if Elena Ford was driving a Hyundai when she wrecked.

[stinkytofu]

I'm not much of a drinker -- an occasional glass of wine is about it -- and I don't like drunk drivers one bit. But I've felt for a long time that .08 is far to low a marker to be considered over the line. It used to be .15, and that was a more realistic figure.

Keep it .08. I don't care if it is low...if you are mildly impaired, you have slightly less reaction time which could lead to somebody dying. Last night I was at the bar watching the basketball game and had one beer. If I'm driving, I never exceed that. I know for a fact I will never get a DUI...it's such a selfish and stupid thing to do.

[RedeemerKid]

Maybe because she's divorced and so was her mother?

I wasn't criticizing, and I hope you didn't take it that way.

I just thought interesting that after being born a Niarchos, and having subsequently been married and divorced twice, it is likely more than coincidence that she uses that Ford family name while being employed as a Ford Executive.

[MikeM]

No, I just read that her parents divorced when she a year old and her mother hyphenated her name anyway. Now Elena is divorced too.


Meanwhile...

Police Commissioner Michael Earl Reeves, 33, will be charged with drunken driving and a weapons violation, according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who authorized a misdemeanor warrant today.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110405/...#ixzz1Ig2pjPJP

[xphillipjrx]

Freep story today quotes Ford's attorney

"The fine is generally commensurate with the defendant's ability to pay. I imagine that she would pay at the high end," he said.

I guess the law is not equal in amount, but it tries to apply equal pain depending on income. Although $5000 is still a drop in the bucket to a Ford heiress.

[DetroitPole]

Keep it .08. I don't care if it is low...if you are mildly impaired, you have slightly less reaction time which could lead to somebody dying. Last night I was at the bar watching the basketball game and had one beer. If I'm driving, I never exceed that. I know for a fact I will never get a DUI...it's such a selfish and stupid thing to do.

I guess, but there are plenty of ways besides 2 beers to be "mildly impaired" while driving. Half of the time when you think somebody is driving drunk they're on their cell phones. Kids bopping around, loud stereos blasting, garbage on the dashboard and in the back window, people who hang their handicap tags from their rear-view mirrors, driving drousy...

Frankly I think a person can be above .08 and be a lot more attentive than this other shit that goes on constantly.

[1KielsonDrive]

The answer to the question is: NO! Like any other laws in our country, they're made to be applied unequally. Unfortunately, way unequally. Politicians and rich people get the first 'benefit of doubt', or shall we say 'benefit of revenue enhancement'. As the old song goes, "Them that gots......."

[lpg]

The answer to the question is: NO! Like any other laws in our country, they're made to be applied unequally. Unfortunately, way unequally. Politicians and rich people get the first 'benefit of doubt', or shall we say 'benefit of revenue enhancement'. As the old song goes, "Them that gots......."

Exactly. A friend of mine was involved in a DUI accident. His 1st traffic offense. He was slapped with felony DUI causing injury. Was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Fines and restitution. Revoked drivers license. Compare to: A couple of very prominent Downriver families sons were involved in a DUI crash much worse than my neighbors. They walked away with misdemeanor charges, fines and community service. The best justice that money can buy.

[rjk]

Exactly. A friend of mine was involved in a DUI accident. His 1st traffic offense. He was slapped with felony DUI causing injury. Was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Fines and restitution. Revoked drivers license. Compare to: A couple of very prominent Downriver families sons were involved in a DUI crash much worse than my neighbors. They walked away with misdemeanor charges, fines and community service. The best justice that money can buy.

Obviously the more money you have the better off you are in our court system, but some judges are a lot more harsh in their penalties. There's a female judge in Oakland County that will throw the book at you for a DUI. I don't know her name, but she was the topci of conversation on one of the radio shows a few weeks ago.

[tompage]

I'm not much of a drinker -- an occasional glass of wine is about it -- and I don't like drunk drivers one bit. But I've felt for a long time that .08 is far to low a marker to be considered over the line. It used to be .15, and that was a more realistic figure.

Are you kidding? Suggesting it should be a .15? A .15 is only realistic if you're just interested in the stumbling falling over drunk who's gotta drive 'cause he's too drunk to walk. Starting at about a .04 the likelihood of being in a crash start to go up dramatically. At an .08 you're about 4 times as likely as a .00 to be in a crash. At .15, you are about 30 times more likely. Impairment in the skills important in operating a vehicle begin to deteriorate with the first drink. An .08 is NOT just a glass of wine with dinner. Depending on a number of factors [[weight, blood volume, absorption, burn-off rate, food in stomach, etc.) it's about 4 or 5 drinks over a few hours. Most people are blasted at .15. As currently written our laws say "Try not to drink too much and drive." What we should be saying is "Don't drink and drive." Eventually, we'll go to a .02 like the Scandinavians do. That doesn't mean we should lock 'em up and throw away the key. Rather, they should be taken off the road for at least 24 hours.

[mjs]

Sounds like they are treated the same. He is being charged right? The prosecutor always thinks about it. Some cases are stronger than others. The arresting officer doesn't make the decision to charge or not to charge; thats what the prosecutor's office does. I'm proud of a system that splits the power of the creation of the law, the arrest, the charge, and the conviction. Paging Kwame Kilpatrick, does Kim Worthy play favorites or give into unethical political pressure?

Tompage, care to provide any sources to how much drinking affects driving? Driving performance starts to diminsh at .04 because state police after state police study shows they go down a little from .00 to .03. ICLE has book on Michigan Drunk Driving that you can check out at many libraries and are available for viewing at pretty well all law school libraries.

.08 was put in place so if the cop completely messes up the tests, which they sometimes do, a prosecutor can still argue that they couldn't have messed up a .12 result so bad that the driver wasn't really at at least a .08. Michigan did turn this law down 7 times before giving in when the majority of their federal highway funding was threatened.

Furthermore, the State of Michigan no longer calls it drunk driving in their advertisements. They call it drinking and driving. It makes it easier for the prosecutors to win strictly by a BAC result rather than having to prove it had an noticable impairment on the driver's ability to handle a motor vehicle.

I always wonder why, if BAC is so critical and the laws need to be so harsh, why can't the state simply make having a BAC coin operated machine a condition of receiving a liquor license? Barely anybody knows whether they're at .04, .08, or .12, because they have never taken a BAC before. Where's the harm in making people's BAC available to them so they can make an informed decision?

[9mile&seneca]

I completely agree, Ray. .08 has pretty much killed off the adult lifestyle.

[stinkytofu]

I completely agree, Ray. .08 has pretty much killed off the adult lifestyle.

What the heck does this even mean? The "adult lifestyle" of drunk driving? We are supposed to encourage and celebrate that?

Maybe you're being saracastic [[are you?), but you sound a whole like that whackjob out in Montana...

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/31/mo...g-a-way-of-li/

[surenowinlife]

Someone should have asked her "Have you driven a Ford lately"..........

[econ expat]

"Never complain,never explain"
Grandpa Henry Ford II's DUI arrest