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Court kicks DWI case, sets new standard

I approve of this ruling. People shouldn't be punished for drunk driving when they're not actually driving.
 
I approve of this ruling. People shouldn't be punished for drunk driving when they're not actually driving.


The cops get a huge pat on the back (plus some overtime court pay) when they arrest someone for DUI. Its a big fish for them. Alas in the Chicago area there are dirty cops arresting literally 1000s of people falsely for DUI. I cant find the link right now but google it. I had a DUI 10 years ago and it nearly destroyed my life. $15,000 in fines and lawyer fees. I easily could have lost my job if I didnt have the money to pay for those fines and fees. For drinking about 4 vodka & tonics it is really a bum deal man.
 
Wow, nice job. Hope this spreads. This whole being arrested for DUI when you haven't been driving thing is crap and needs to end. Maybe now certain folk around here will believe that this actually happens on a rather large scale.
 
I think the statistic when I lived in Albuquerque was that after 10pm 80% of the drivers on the road were intoxicated.
 
The cops get a huge pat on the back (plus some overtime court pay) when they arrest someone for DUI. Its a big fish for them. Alas in the Chicago area there are dirty cops arresting literally 1000s of people falsely for DUI. I cant find the link right now but google it. I had a DUI 10 years ago and it nearly destroyed my life. $15,000 in fines and lawyer fees. I easily could have lost my job if I didnt have the money to pay for those fines and fees. For drinking about 4 vodka & tonics it is really a bum deal man.

Hell ****ing yeah it's a big fish for them. DUIs are money raisers, cops love to issue them. And in Chicago...forget about it. Those bastards are so corrupt there just be lucky you got an illegal DUI and didn't have some murder pinned on you. Though they get more money with the DUI. DUI punishments are excessive. EXCESSIVE! And the only reason they persist is because of ****tard organizations which do their best to emotionalize and demonize the entire act. In that way we stop thinking about it. We start thinking it's evil and we start running off of emotions, and we start yelling "throw the book at them!". But is it proper punishment? Is it proper action by the government? We don't ask these questions anymore. Make the punishment stiffer, make it tougher, be harder on first time offenders, etc. That's what we get because we've driven to a point where the people are being stupid about it and the government is only more than willing to take advantage of that.

We need reason and logic back, we can't keep running away from these things. Sure, DUI must be illegal. But first time instances shouldn't cost that much. And then you have to go to class and now you have to go to therapy. It's a bunch of money draining BS that's grown up around this. Sure...maybe classes (even though that's dumb). But therapy? Really? How does the government have the authority to issue that and how can they do so for first time offense?

It's all authoritative, stupid BS to rape the people of more money and get the rest of us jokers to jump up and down in joy for it.
 
The keys were in the passenger seat and not the ignition, making it fairly clear he wasn't intending to drive. If he had planned to drive they would be in the ignition, if he had just passed out they would be in his pocket.
 
The keys were in the passenger seat and not the ignition, making it fairly clear he wasn't intending to drive. If he had planned to drive they would be in the ignition, if he had just passed out they would be in his pocket.

I think that you have to go even further than "intent". Driving under the influence requires that you be under the influence and driving. If you're not driving or not drunk, you cannot get a DUI. Thus I'd say the only way to properly get a DUI is to be driving drunk and get pulled over while doing so. Also, I'd take away some of the ability of the cops to take people's property. Sometimes you have to call a tow just because of where the DUI happened. But people have had their cars yanked from their driveways and garages when they've been arrested for DUI and that's one toke over the line.
 
Here is one for ya. If you are caught driving on a revoked license because of a DUI.... Illinois takes..... TAKES your car. Not just for awhile, but for good. And they sell it! And what about your car payments? You STILL have to pay them. PLUS you get a FELONY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

****ing Russia and Cuba dont even do that.
 
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Here is one for ya. If you are caught driving on a revoked license because of a DUI.... Illinois takes..... TAKES your car. Not just for awhile, but for good. And they sell it! And what about your car payments? You STILL have to pay them. PLUS you get a FELONY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

****ing Russia and Cuba dont even do that.

Money raiser. So much for your right to secure yourself, your paper, your belongings, and your property against illegal search and seizure.

Even worse than DUI for illegal property confiscation are drug busts. They'll take everything that isn't nailed down if they can claim it was used in drug related activities. ****ing authority always looking to steal from us.
 
The cops get a huge pat on the back (plus some overtime court pay) when they arrest someone for DUI. Its a big fish for them. Alas in the Chicago area there are dirty cops arresting literally 1000s of people falsely for DUI. I cant find the link right now but google it. I had a DUI 10 years ago and it nearly destroyed my life. $15,000 in fines and lawyer fees. I easily could have lost my job if I didnt have the money to pay for those fines and fees. For drinking about 4 vodka & tonics it is really a bum deal man.

They do? Im sorry, I arrest like 10 DWI offenders per month, yet by your words I would have a handprint on my back from the number of times Ive been patted on the back.

I like how you make **** up.


As per the topic, It is TOTAL bull**** to arrest someone who isn't actually driving the vehicle. In my state, you can arrest someone for being in the drivers seat behind a vehicle that is running even if it is in park. I refuse to do this, because if the vehicle is running but they arnen't going anywhere, I can simply roll up and stop them from leaving by giving them options or completely preventing them from leaving. Now, here is the kicker, in the event they decide to cause a problem not accept my assistance of a free ride, becoming a complete asshole, THEN I might enact using the retarded ass law in order to fix the situation. But Ive never had to, nor want to, have to do such a thing.
 
The cops get a huge pat on the back (plus some overtime court pay) when they arrest someone for DUI. Its a big fish for them. Alas in the Chicago area there are dirty cops arresting literally 1000s of people falsely for DUI. I cant find the link right now but google it. I had a DUI 10 years ago and it nearly destroyed my life. $15,000 in fines and lawyer fees. I easily could have lost my job if I didnt have the money to pay for those fines and fees. For drinking about 4 vodka & tonics it is really a bum deal man.

Um... it sounds like you shouldn't have been driving. 4 Mixed drinks??

Please provide the link about the 'dirty cops' falsely arresting thousands for DUI.
 
$15,000 in fines and lawyer fees.

That seems astronoiomically high. I know a ton of people who've gotten DUIs around here around that time, before and since (including myself) that paid no more than a 3rd of that number.

What happened that made it cost so much? A normal DUI and defense for one just ain't that expensive around here.
 
They do? Im sorry, I arrest like 10 DWI offenders per month, yet by your words I would have a handprint on my back from the number of times Ive been patted on the back.

I like how you make **** up.


As per the topic, It is TOTAL bull**** to arrest someone who isn't actually driving the vehicle. In my state, you can arrest someone for being in the drivers seat behind a vehicle that is running even if it is in park. I refuse to do this, because if the vehicle is running but they arnen't going anywhere, I can simply roll up and stop them from leaving by giving them options or completely preventing them from leaving. Now, here is the kicker, in the event they decide to cause a problem not accept my assistance of a free ride, becoming a complete asshole, THEN I might enact using the retarded ass law in order to fix the situation. But Ive never had to, nor want to, have to do such a thing.

It would have been nice to have a cop like you when I got my DUI. I was sitting in the car in -15 degree weather with the heat on waiting for the cab that I had already called when the cop came over, knocked on my window, and yanked me out of my truck to give me roadside test on ice in the parking lot...whilst waving away the cab I had previously called when it arrived.

Thank God the DA had sense enough not to make it into a trial situation when I refused to plead out to the DUI.
 
I think that you have to go even further than "intent". Driving under the influence requires that you be under the influence and driving. If you're not driving or not drunk, you cannot get a DUI. Thus I'd say the only way to properly get a DUI is to be driving drunk and get pulled over while doing so. Also, I'd take away some of the ability of the cops to take people's property. Sometimes you have to call a tow just because of where the DUI happened. But people have had their cars yanked from their driveways and garages when they've been arrested for DUI and that's one toke over the line.

I agree with the Tow issue you bring up. Ive seen Officers go so far as to tow vehicles that were not insured. While we don't want insured vehicles on the roadway, Im not wasting 30-60 minutes of taxpayer money waiting on a tow truck to tow a vehicle for such a small reason. Ive also seen people call for tow when the vehicle was pulled over onto a residential neighborhood street off of a main road. People park along the road all the time, just because the person doesn't live there doesn't mean their vehicle is going to suddenly cause problems. Pretty much, I don't tow a vehicle unless they pulled over in the roadway. I always TRY to initiate the stop at a location where the individual would be able to react and pull into a side street, sometimes that doesn't happen now.
 
That seems astronoiomically high. I know a ton of people who've gotten DUIs around here around that time, before and since (including myself) that paid no more than a 3rd of that number.

What happened that made it cost so much? A normal DUI and defense for one just ain't that expensive around here.

It's Chicago first off. 5 grand for the first DUI (what you were saying you're friends spent) is now the low side number. You're probably typically in the hole for 6-10 grand. 15 is pretty high for first time. The problem is that it doesn't go away. If you get a DUI 15 years from now, that's your second and you go to jail. Everything should come with term limits.
 
Here is one for ya. If you are caught driving on a revoked license because of a DUI.... Illinois takes..... TAKES your car. Not just for awhile, but for good. And they sell it! And what about your car payments? You STILL have to pay them. PLUS you get a FELONY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

****ing Russia and Cuba dont even do that.

I actually agree with this one, and I have seized several vehicles because of it.
 
That seems astronoiomically high. I know a ton of people who've gotten DUIs around here around that time, before and since (including myself) that paid no more than a 3rd of that number.

What happened that made it cost so much? A normal DUI and defense for one just ain't that expensive around here.

When I got written a DUI, before I ever even went to my first court date, I got a flier from the police department in the mail that started with "You drove drunk and here's what it's going to cost you". The list came up to about $12,000.00 in fines, fees, classes, impound costs (yes, they impounded my truck immediately and even though I wasn't convicted of the DUI, I still paid over $1300.00 to the impound for the time they kept my truck).

And the fact that they sent it before I even had my first court date was like a taunt saying "there's nothing you can do about this so just plead guilty".

**** the DUI laws.
 
They do? Im sorry, I arrest like 10 DWI offenders per month, yet by your words I would have a handprint on my back from the number of times Ive been patted on the back.

Well you'd better get cracking. My town (which ain't very big) gets ~600 DUIs a year when they aren't cracking down. They "cracked down" recently and netted themselves over 1300 DUIs in the year. That's a lot of scratch.

As per the topic, It is TOTAL bull**** to arrest someone who isn't actually driving the vehicle. In my state, you can arrest someone for being in the drivers seat behind a vehicle that is running even if it is in park. I refuse to do this, because if the vehicle is running but they arnen't going anywhere, I can simply roll up and stop them from leaving by giving them options or completely preventing them from leaving.

And kudos for that. I honestly don't think cops of your caliber are common and prevalent in many places. But this is exactly what I think cops should do in this circumstance.

Now, here is the kicker, in the event they decide to cause a problem not accept my assistance of a free ride, becoming a complete asshole, THEN I might enact using the retarded ass law in order to fix the situation. But Ive never had to, nor want to, have to do such a thing.

That's fair enough. You've done well more to serve the people than the vast majority of cops I've run into. You at least make the effort to give them other options and tell them of consequence. If the person chooses to continue afterwards, that's their fault (well as is drinking and driving, I'm not trying to excuse the crime; just the excessive punishment that seems to come with it). But in all honesty, I think many many places are looking for the money which comes with the DUI and they aren't going to act like this. They'll take anyone sitting in a car with their keys in reach (as is the case in Colorado).
 
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When I got written a DUI, before I ever even went to my first court date, I got a flier from the police department in the mail that started with "You drove drunk and here's what it's going to cost you". The list came up to about $12,000.00 in fines, fees, classes, impound costs (yes, they impounded my truck immediately and even though I wasn't convicted of the DUI, I still paid over $1300.00 to the impound for the time they kept my truck).

And the fact that they sent it before I even had my first court date was like a taunt saying "there's nothing you can do about this so just plead guilty".

**** the DUI laws.

WOW!
That sounds kinda jackass to send someone a letter like that. That practice should be looked into.
 
Good for NM. People should not get a DUI unless they're actually ****ing... get this... DRIVING.
 
It's Chicago first off. 5 grand for the first DUI (what you were saying you're friends spent) is now the low side number. You're probably typically in the hole for 6-10 grand. 15 is pretty high for first time. The problem is that it doesn't go away. If you get a DUI 15 years from now, that's your second and you go to jail. Everything should come with term limits.

First off, I'm from Chicago. Did you forget? I wouldn't have said anything if it was New York being discussed. But I happen to have a lot more knowledge about Chicago DUI's than most people here possibly could.

I got my DUI here (2 years ago). I paid a total of $4000 with my lawyer fees. My lawyers gave me a pretty good deal, but anything more than 2K on a lawyer for a straight first time DUI with no injuries is retarded around here. I wouldn't pay more than 1,500.

I know what the numbers are in Chicago as well as anyone. It would be higher today because of the new laws passed in 2008, but nowhere near 15K 10 years ago unless you seriously ****ed up while getting the DUI.
 
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When I got written a DUI, before I ever even went to my first court date, I got a flier from the police department in the mail that started with "You drove drunk and here's what it's going to cost you". The list came up to about $12,000.00 in fines, fees, classes, impound costs (yes, they impounded my truck immediately and even though I wasn't convicted of the DUI, I still paid over $1300.00 to the impound for the time they kept my truck).

And the fact that they sent it before I even had my first court date was like a taunt saying "there's nothing you can do about this so just plead guilty".

**** the DUI laws.

I don't know where yours was. I'm talking specifically about the area Giant Noodle says he got his DUI. I know that area and no other.

Granted, he might not have been in Cook County. If so, he probably shouldn't say Chciagoland area, as those of us who are actually from Chicago consider that **** rural.
 
First off, I'm from Chicago. Did you forget? I wouldn't have said anything if it was New York being discussed. But I happen to have a lot more knowledge about Chicago DUI's than most people here possibly could.

I got my DUI here (2 years ago). I paid a total of $4000 with my lawyer fees. My lawyers gave me a deal, but anything more than 2K on a lawyer for a straight first time DUI with no injuries is retarded.

I know what the numbers are in Chicago as well as anyone. It would be higher today because of the new laws passed in 2008, but nowhere near 15K 10 years ago unless you seriously ****ed up while getting the DUI.

Maybe it was a 2nd time offense, involved a crash, and he blew 2x the legal limit or whatever Illinois threshold for Interlock devices are? Im just speculating. The interlock device HAD to be a requirement at that 15k cost.
 
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