| It's no surprise that current DUI Law mandates that DUI | | | | all of your monthly expenses are rapidly increasing but |
| punishments cause problems in your personal life in the | | | | your income has either ceased to exist or significantly |
| short term. With punishments such as temporary loss | | | | decreased. |
| of license, community service, fines, alcohol education | | | | If they lost their job due to the DUI then they now face |
| and assessment, etc... it forces you to do some | | | | the challenge of trying to find a new job to secure |
| "rearranging" of your personal life. | | | | some income but don't have a driver's license for |
| But what isn't always known by most is that the | | | | transportation and then also have to disclose on the |
| effects of DUI will last for years, even a decade. The | | | | job application that they have been convicted of a DUI. |
| punishments actually serve as a barrier from getting | | | | This makes finding any new work near impossible. |
| past the offense and moving on with your life for | | | | What does this do to someone's mental state? It |
| many years to come. This is because the initial | | | | makes them very emotional and very unstable. Couple |
| punishments cause a domino effect of problems that | | | | these feelings of anxiety with the animosity that a |
| can propagate through several years of someone's | | | | large percentage of people feel when they get a DUI. |
| life. | | | | The animosity comes from the fact that a lot of |
| First, you're forced to take a considerable amount of | | | | people are wrongly accused and convicted of this |
| time off from work to perform your community | | | | offense because so much discretion is left up to the |
| service which usually involves picking up litter on the | | | | police officer during a dui stop. Low BAC laws and |
| side of the highway. If you're paid by the hour that's a | | | | political pressure funnel more and more innocent |
| considerable loss of income! If you're paid in salary | | | | people into the DUI system everyday. |
| there goes your whole vacation allotment for the | | | | What is the likelihood of a repeat offense when the |
| entire year (if you haven't used it up already). This is | | | | punishments do this to a person? The person's stress |
| assuming that you even have a way to get to work | | | | level and mental state has completely deteriorated and |
| since your license has been temporarily suspended. | | | | depression is setting in. They're worrying about |
| The irony of all of this is that with all of this commotion | | | | bankruptcy and future employment plans but at the |
| you're likely to lose your job while you need money to | | | | same time are unable to help themselves because the |
| pay all of the fines! | | | | courts have handicapped them. |
| Potentially, you have someone who has either lost their | | | | We're all for punishments for people that break the |
| job or has lost a considerable amount of income by | | | | rules but the punishment has to fit the crime. It has to |
| not being able to attend employment. They are forced | | | | be rehabilitative in nature if we actually want to fix the |
| to pay the court fines and fees along with all of their | | | | problem. The current punishments instigate repeat |
| other monthly bills on an even smaller income then | | | | offenses and worsen the problem instead of fixing it. |
| they had before the offense. So what is happening is | | | | |