Got Caught for DWI? We'll Get You Out of Jail

[catcul]

I was listening to A Dose of Buckley about a scumbag law firm near Toronto that was advertising that they can get you off free. That reminded me of a radio ad for another law firm doing almost the exact same thing while I was driving through South Carolina. I suddenly became concerned for my safety. It also made me glad I don't live in SC.

[blas87]

Heh, that ain't nothing new.

I still got that ex from a couple of years ago, he's got 5 DUIs and he's done nothing but a couple weekends worth of jail time for getting busted violating his signature bond (meaning he was supposed to NOT go out and drink in order to keep himself out of jail for the original FELONY offense!!!!!), because the entire original case was dropped to something way less serious, meaning minimal if any jail time, and just a lot of classes.

And he's not a rare one. We've got people on their 6th, 7th, 8th and beyond. Still driving. Hardly any time in jail when caught.

[Andara Bledin]

These guys can be found anywhere that has DWI laws.

I've actually called in to my local station to protest them airing such commercials as being irresponsible to the community.

[Chromatix]

It constantly amazes me how loosely traffic laws are enforced over there.

Speed limits are considered a minimum? DWI is barely punished? Driving lessons and the test are a mere formality to be got over as quickly and dismissively as possible?

Yeah, I don't envy you who have to drive on those roads.

[catcul]

Where I live, if you get caught with a third DWI, you will never get your driver's license back, ever. Since you can ride a moped without a driver's license, we call them "liquor cycles." Also, if someone is caught driving a car after three DWI's, the state confiscates the car.

[Greenday]

It constantly amazes me how loosely traffic laws are enforced over there.

Speed limits are considered a minimum? DWI is barely punished? Driving lessons and the test are a mere formality to be got over as quickly and dismissively as possible?

Yeah, I don't envy you who have to drive on those roads.

A lot of the laws depend on where you are. Speed limits in densely populated areas/school zones tend to get heavily enforced. Open highways with ridiculously low speed limits are given much more leeway (55mph on a highway with no pedestrian traffic is pretty damn slow).

As for DUIs/DWIs, it depends on the state. Some states are really lax when it comes to punishment. Others are pretty strict. Around me, it's a night in jail and a suspended license. Caught driving without a valid license? Car is towed. Now if you cause an accident or hit someone while driving drunk/high, we start talking about double-digit prison sentences.

Yes, driving lessons and the test are mere formalities. Without a driver's license and a car, you are essentially screwed. There is no way to get to work. Public transit practically doesn't exist in a lot of places so it's not feasible to make it super restrictive.

[thealmightymalachi]

These guys can be found anywhere that has DWI laws.

I've actually called in to my local station to protest them airing such commercials as being irresponsible to the community.

Best method is just turning off the radio station after telling them why you're doing it, and advising them that you'll be telling your friends, family, and anyone else to do so as well.

Radio stations are hurting for ad revenue as it is. If you want to really make a dent and make them change, just turn them off and never turn them on again.

...here's where I mention that the only radio stations I listen to are community-supported nonprofit organizations, right? (Granted, I live in Seattle, where we have five of them...)

[HYHYBT]

Is there something wrong with lawyers offering their services to defend people charged with crimes, or is there more to this?

[blas87]

You have a point there, unfortunately, because of scumbag lawyers like that, and rich criminals who can afford them....that'd be a big reason there are people like my ex out there with 5 or more DUIs driving as free birds, well on to their 6th or 7th or 8th or more, eventually.

It's a shame that the justice system fails so many. I really would like to prove that a lot of times, it is about money. I know for cock sure, if it were me with the 5 DUIs, I'd be in prison by now, a year or more into a sentence. There's no way I can afford a lawyer who can drag my case on for over a year just to have all my charges dropped to misdemeanors and my only punishment being alcohol treatment classes and probation.

[Racket_Man]

The problem in the past Blas is that our state, until recently, did not really do much of anything to repeat multi-time drunk drivers.

Up until only recently it took at least 5 or 6 drunk driving convictions for it to be a felony offence. everything below that was a mere misdomenior.

It is only in the last maybe 5 or 6 years that our state HAD seriously cracked down and lowered the bar for felony drunk driving convictions ie. permant record for 65 years, loss/suspension of drivers license, serious jail time, vehicle sober interlocks, bigger fines, etc.

Heck I knew one guy say 6 years ago that HAD at least 9 convictions and the only reason he got jail time for the last one was because he hit and killed a pedestrian on a major road. This guy WAS a "professional" drunk

[catcul]

Is there something wrong with lawyers offering their services to defend people charged with crimes, or is there more to this?

It's not the fact that they are advertising their services. These people act like it's the police's fault that DWI suspects are in trouble.

[Andara Bledin]

It's not the fact that they are advertising their services. These people act like it's the police's fault that DWI suspects are in trouble.

This has always been my irritation with the ads.

They sound like the lawyers are all, "Oh, you poor driver, you, it's totally not your fault that you got caught risking other people's safety because you know you're totally safe to drive while under the influence, so we'll do our best to make that totally legit charge go away so that you can go about your business of drinking and driving some more."

[wolfie]

My "gut feeling" on this is that what people find objectionable is the tone these ads take, implying that the lawyers in question will defend someone who HAS ADMITTED TO THEM that they have committed the offense. There's a BIG difference between defending someone who believes they were falsely charged, and defending someone who comes in saying "I did it - get me off".

These ads are basically the same as the stereotype "Did your loved one drive drunk, run a red light, and get T-boned by a semi that had the green? Sue that trucker for everything he's got! Call the law offices of Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe at 1-800-SHYSTER".

[protege]

It's not the fact that they are advertising their services. These people act like it's the police's fault that DWI suspects are in trouble.

That's the problem I have with those ads as well. They'll ignore the fact that the driver was bombed out of their mind. Instead, they'll try to blame the police, the highway department (yep, it's been tried here), vehicle manufacturer, or anyone else they can think of, in an attempt to draw attention away from what their client was up to.

I know a guy who had an accident in a DWI/DUI checkpoint some years back. He ran down one of the officers directing traffic, then tried to claim that his brakes failed. He found some scumbag lawyer, who claimed that he could get the guy off the charges. Never mind that he was blitzed. No, it was the cop's fault for being in the road...and the car's fault for losing its brakes. That didn't last long--the county judge saw it all as a crock of shit, and the guy is in jail.

Then we have local shyster Edgar Snyder. This guy once claimed that if you have an accident on a slippery road...it's *PennDOT's* fault. His thinking is, if you see one of those "skidding car" signs (the ones with the car, and squiggly lines for tires), the state put that sign up because they *knew* the road was designed wrong...and built it anyway. In other words, if you slide off the road in a sharp corner doing 90...it's not your fault.

Then you have accidents like the one that killed Paul Walker (Fast & Furious actor) yesterday afternoon. Apparently, he was a passenger. The driver, was going well over the speed limit in a Porsche, hit a light pole, and the car blew up. Instead of blaming the driver for being an idiot, it's somehow Porsche's fault. Yep, they've been sued over how badly the car supposedly handles. I can imagine Ralph Nader having a field day with this one!

[Rageaholic]

Wait, is DUI a felony? I thought it was a misdemeanor.