Chicago DUI attorney comments on the City indicating not enough tickets are being written

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here and here about the decrease in crime.  Still she is deeply troubled by the latest news that the police aren’t issuing enough tickets according to the city.

August 17, Chicago, Il:

The Aug. 10 memo, which doesn't explicitly ask police to boost tickets, tells district commanders and other supervisors that police ticket-writing dropped nearly 25 percent in July compared to the same month in 2009. It lists the five districts with the least and most tickets.

 A top police official, speaking anonymously, said the department doesn't instruct officers to write additional tickets based on city budget concerns. District lieutenants and sergeants said they don't know of any directives to write more tickets.

The memo said the department issued about 850,000 tickets in July 2009 and only about 642,000 this July.

The Revenue Department warning about lagging ticket-writing comes at a time when the city is scrounging for every available dollar to erase a record $654.7 million budget shortfall. Earlier this month, Fitch Ratings downgraded Chicago's bond rating, citing the worst shortfall in the city's history and Mayor Daley's "accelerated use of reserves to balance operations." Daley said he expected the move.

 Why is this disturbing?  It suggests that car owners need to pick up more of the burden of the City’ budget, not through the already notorious permit parking or even City Stickers but through payment of parking and traffic tickets issued to them.  Unfortunately, this suggests that tickets are being issued out of economic need, not actual violations.

Chicago DUI attorney comments on undocumented immigrants and the dilemma over driver's licenses

This Chicago DUI attorney still wonders when Illinois, and the majority of the other states, are going to permit driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants.  In Illinois, you don’t have to be a citizen to get a driver’s license but you do have to have documented immigrant status, e.g. permanent resident status or even student visa, etc.

Prior to the creation of Homeland Security many states did permit immigrants to get valid driver’s license.  It made a huge difference in their lives, but it makes a large difference in our lives as well.  The bottom line is valid license or not they are going to be driving on our roads, it makes far greater sense to let them be compliant with our laws by providing them the opportunity to obtain valid driver’s licenses.

From the Olympian.com:

Carlos Hernandez packed up his family and left Arizona after the state passed its sweeping immigration crackdown. The illegal immigrant's new home in Burien offered something Arizona did not: a driver's license.

Three states – Washington, New Mexico and Utah – allow illegal immigrants to get licenses because their laws do not require proof of citizenship or legal residency. An Associated Press analysis found that those states have seen a surge in immigrants seeking IDs in recent months, a trend experts attribute to crackdowns on illegal immigration in Arizona and elsewhere.

“It’s difficult being undocumented and not having an identification,” said Hernandez, of Puebla, Mexico. “You can use the Mexican ID, but people look down on it.” An American driver’s license is also a requirement for many jobs.

 Washington granted 3,200 licenses to people from outside the U.S. through June, exceeding the pace of 5,992 for all of 2009.

• New Mexico issued 10,257 licenses to immigrants in the first six months of 2010, compared with 13,481 for all of 2009. The pace has intensified since April, when neighboring Arizona passed its immigration law. The figures include both illegal and legal immigrants.

• Utah handed out 41,000 illegal immigrant licenses for 2010 through June 7, compared with 43,429 for all of 2008.

Did you know that auto insurance will not cover a driver without a valid driver’s license, even if the driver has paid the insurance premium?  Do you want to be involved in an accident where the person’s insurance refuses to cover the damages, even if they admit fault, because while they paid each month’s premium they couldn’t get a valid driver’s license.

Chicago DUI attorney comments on the privilege of a driver's license

This Chicago DUI attorney knows the importance of a valid driver's license.  It serves as everything from  acceptable photo I.D.; to allowing one to get a job; to of course enjoying the beauty of this vast country by hitting the road when we feel like it.  

The other day her husband couldn't find his driver's license.  She tells him to hustle down to the satellite office of the Secretary of State and make sure he has his Social Security Card, Passport, our marriage license, and a current utility bill in his name.  As much as a hassle as gathering all of these forms of identification can be to get a duplicate license in Illinois, it's nothing compared to having to take the road test.

From nytimes.com:

ONLY three times in my life have I been so scared that I trembled — legs quivering, hands jittering, heart out of control. The first was at 12, when I watched “The Exorcist” before I should have. The second was at 41, when, on the kind of dare to which middle-aged men seem peculiarly vulnerable, I got into a canvas harness and prepared to jump some 250 feet into a gorge in Zambia.

The third was a few months ago, on Staten Island, when I was asked by an examiner for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to pull out of a parking spot and drive toward a nearby stoplight.

This is a cautionary tale. Like too many harried New Yorkers without cars or much cause to use them, I let my driver’s license expire — in October 2006. Then, in an unlucky development the next May, I was pick-pocketed. The double whammy of an expired license that I could not physically produce meant I could no longer right the situation with a written exam and a vision check. I was effectively 16 again, on the hook for a five-hour class and the dreaded road test, which I came to fear I’d never reach, given the labyrinth of civil-service incompetence, bureaucratic nonsense and simple misfortune I had tumbled into. Kafka could have had a field day with me.

Granted, the stakes weren’t so high. Many people don’t drive, and on most days, not having a license hardly inconvenienced me. But there were vacations and work assignments that required rental cars — and travel companions fed up with my inability to share the burden.

One friend, after 20 hours on the back roads of Italy — him stuck behind the wheel, me barking out directions and haranguing about missed turns — started calling me Miss Daisy. Another, frazzled by driving on the left side through Scotland, begged me to step in, but I had conditions.

“If we get into an accident and neither of us is too injured to move,” I told her, “we quickly bolt out of the car and change seats before the police come.”

“Deal,” she said. “I even authorize you to move me to the driver’s seat if you’re ambulatory but I’m not.”

I also cheated on visits to my brother’s family in Southern California, continuing a longstanding tradition of piling his four kids into a car for an afternoon of fun without Mom and Dad.

I was petrified all the way to the multiplex that I’d somehow attract the attentions of a police officer, be stopped and berated and maybe even arrested in front of the children. I could only imagine the therapy bills. For me and them both.

“Why are you driving so slow, Uncle Frank?” my nephew, Harrison, then 7, asked.

“I’m not,” I lied. “Other adults just drive much, much too fast.” Then I hit the brakes, stopping at a light that I merely suspected was about to turn yellow.

Many people can relate to the fear of driving without a valid license.  The fear of taking the road test and coming into compliance is often enough to just ward some people away from the DMV.  Then there are the hosts of other issues like borrowing a car to take the test if you don't already own the car and unfortunately, because the individual can't read (don't be alarmed there is a test for folks who can't read, but you have to admit to the examiner that you can't read in order to get it).  Still, this fear is just a reminder that at some level, most of us realize that we don't have a right to drive without a valid driver's license.

 For what it's worth, my husband didn't have to go to the satellite office of the Secretary of State to get a license, we found it.

Chicago DUI attorney comments on MADD eating its own

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here, here, and here about cops being charged with DUI’s.  Still, she feels bad for this alleged offender:

August 13, Indianapolis, IN:

 David Bisard, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer charged with drunken driving and killing a motorcyclist, was once one of the area's most productive cops at nailing drunk drivers.

 As a member of the Noblesville Police Department in the late 1990s, Bisard received awards two years in a row from Mothers Against Drunk Driving and won commendations four years in a row.

 Now MADD has little sympathy for its former hero.

 "An offender is an offender, and we hope he gets treated like anyone else caught driving drunk," said a MADD national spokeswoman, Dorene Englert.

As Bisard made his first appearance in court on seven felony charges Thursday, two sides emerged. One, a sobbing, inebriated patrolman -- in shock and panicked -- at the scene of a deadly accident.

 The other, described by acquaintances and outlined in police records, was of an aggressive but level-headed, fearless and productive officer who lived cleanly in high school and never showed a hint of alcohol use professionally.

Life in the canine unit suited his personality perfectly, they said.

"Those guys chase violent felons around all day," said Bill Owensby, the Fraternal Order of Police president who served in the unit for nine years and knows Bisard. "You have to be in top shape, you can't be slacking, and you have to love hunting humans."

Bisard received several awards from the department, including a medal of valor for killing a bank robbery suspect who had ambushed him with an AK-47 in April. He has recorded more than 800 arrests in nine years with IMPD, according to records.

 Before joining IMPD, Bisard was one of the most efficient members of the Noblesville police, racking up 52 drunken-driving arrests from 1996 through 2001, said spokesman Lt. Bruce Barnes.

 An “offender, is an offender” just doesn’t cut it when you are talking about a decorated officer.  Why did this happen?  What lessons can we learn from this tragedy?  How can we avoid this happening to others in law enforcement?  What happened?  This is not to belittle the loss of life, but seriously sound bites don’t fit all occasions.  MADD dropped the ball on this one.

Chicago DUI attorney comments on losing your car

This Chicago DUI attorney wants to remind you of yet another consequence of a DUI arrest.  The police can, and usually will, impound your vehicle.  The starting fees to get your vehicle back, once you or the owner has shown proof of valid insurance, is approximately $700.  That fee does not include daily storage fees if you are unable to retrieve the vehicle.

625ILCS 4-203:

  (e) Whenever a peace officer reasonably believes that a person under arrest for a violation of Section 11-501 of this Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance is likely, upon release, to commit a subsequent violation of Section 11-501, or a similar provision of a local ordinance, the arresting officer shall have the vehicle which the person was operating at the time of the arrest impounded for a period of not more than 12 hours after the time of arrest. However, such vehicle may be released by the arresting law enforcement agency prior to the end of the impoundment period if:

        (1) the vehicle was not owned by the person under

     arrest, and the lawful owner requesting such release possesses a valid operator's license, proof of ownership, and would not, as determined by the arresting law enforcement agency, indicate a lack of ability to operate a motor vehicle in a safe manner, or who would otherwise, by operating such motor vehicle, be in violation of this Code; or

        (2) the vehicle is owned by the person under arrest,

     and the person under arrest gives permission to another person to operate such vehicle, provided however, that the other person possesses a valid operator's license and would not, as determined by the arresting law enforcement agency, indicate a lack of ability to operate a motor vehicle in a safe manner or who would otherwise, by operating such motor vehicle, be in violation of this Code.

    (e-5) Whenever a registered owner of a vehicle is taken into custody for operating the vehicle in violation of Section 11-501 of this Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance or Section 6-303 of this Code, a law enforcement officer may have the vehicle immediately impounded for a period not less than:

        (1) 24 hours for a second violation of Section 11-501

     of this Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance or Section 6-303 of this Code or a combination of these offenses; or

        (2) 48 hours for a third violation of Section 11-501

     of this Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance or Section 6-303 of this Code or a combination of these offenses.

    The vehicle may be released sooner if the vehicle is owned by the person under arrest and the person under arrest gives permission to another person to operate the vehicle and that other person possesses a valid operator's license and would not, as determined by the arresting law enforcement agency, indicate a lack of ability to operate a motor vehicle in a safe manner or would otherwise, by operating the motor vehicle, be in violation of this Code.

 Unfortunately, in these economic times, many people are unable to retrieve their vehicles after a DUI arrest.

Chicago DUI attorney knows the Constitution is a working document to protect the rights of people

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here, here, and here about wrongful arrests.

Today, she admits she didn’t feel like reminding people that an arrest doesn’t mean a person is guilty.  While that maybe true in other countries, that is not how we view democracy.

United States Constitution, From the Bill of Rights:

 Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

 

When’s the last time you thought about what these Amendments mean? 

Chicago DUI attorney provides free legal advice on how to avoid meeting her

This Chicago DUI attorney wants to help you avoid meeting her. 

The number one thing you can do to avoid meeting her is to never drink a sip of alcohol and then drive a vehicle.  You don’t ever want to become the subject of the news like this do you?

From suntimes.com:

Is there ever a time when a sentence of probation in a case involving a fatal DUI accident is appropriate?

I would say no.

The civil case already has been settled, with Penachio's insurance company paying $1.2 million to Baker's survivors, and Penachio himself setting up a $60,000 college fund for Baker's young daughter.

But the criminal case has languished, leading Baker's parents, Derrick and Calmette Baker, to believe that Penachio -- who has been out on a $300,000 bond -- and his lawyers have intentionally stalled these proceedings in the hope that public outrage would diminish over time.

Whatever happens to the defendant in this case won’t bring back the young woman who died tragically.  The million dollars paid out to her daughter won’t make a difference in that child’s life the way having her mother with her could.  Seriously, many of us make mistakes of judgment that have consequences far greater than we could ever imagine.  This is one area where you can control your life, and avoid meeting me; just don’t consume alcohol if you are going to drive.