| Introductory Letter |
3. Prosecution, Adjudication and Treatment
Partners in Progress: An Impaired Driving Guide for Action strategy — Ensure that law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges support enforcement initiatives.
A. Prosecution
Comprehensive programs for visible and aggressive prosecution of impaired driving provide great benefits to states and communities. These programs will:
- Support the efforts of law enforcement;
- Lend credibility to the enforcement of impaired driving laws;
- Support general and specific deterrence of offenders;
- Educate the public about the seriousness of impaired driving and the certainty of consequences; and
- Enhance any prevention programs both for individual communities and the state as a whole.
Comprehensive prosecution programs support aggressive prosecution of impaired driving offenders in the courts — and assure adequate training to involve prosecutors in public information and education efforts. These programs should:
- Enable prosecutors to give impaired driving cases high priority for prosecution;
- Provide sufficient resources to effectively prosecute cases presented by law enforcement efforts;
- Facilitate uniform and consistent prosecution of impaired driving cases while allowing for individualized sanctions as appropriate;
- Encourage training for prosecutors so they can obtain high rates of conviction, seek appropriate sanctions for offenders and participate in community coalitions and leadership in all public information and education efforts;
- Encourage vigorous prosecution of alcohol/drug-related fatality and injury cases under both impaired driving and general criminal statutes;
- Ensure that prosecutors are knowledgeable and prepared to prosecute youthful offenders appropriately;
- Involve prosecutors in public information and education activities and other prevention activities;
- Involve prosecutors in their capacity as community leaders in the building of local partnerships and coalitions and in efforts to draw the community into resolving the problem; and
- Promote state-of-the art training for prosecutors, including Protecting Lives, Saving Futures; Prosecution of Driving While Under the Influence Cases; Prosecuting the Drugged Driver; Lethal Weapon: DWI Homicide; and the Prosecutor Faculty Development Course.
B. Adjudication
Judges are an integral part of a comprehensive program to enforce impaired driving laws and a critical link to public education. The general and specific deterrence of traffic offenders may be undermined if the courts are not included in the state’s program or given adequate resources to effectively adjudicate impaired driving offenses. A comprehensive adjudication program will:
- Lend credibility and impact to the enforcement of impaired driving laws;
- Provide general and specific deterrence of offenders;
- Educate the public about the seriousness of impaired driving and the certainty of consequences; and
- Enhance any prevention programs both for individual communities and the state as a whole.
A comprehensive adjudication program ensures that the courts can appropriately and effectively adjudicate impaired driving offenders. A comprehensive program also encourages training necessary to involve judges in community leadership roles, and public information and education efforts. These programs should:
- Facilitate uniform and consistent adjudication under the law of impaired driving cases;
- Ensure that judges have the educational opportunities to obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to appropriately adjudicate impaired driving cases;
- Recommend similar training for administrative hearing officers who hear administrative license revocation appeals;
- Inform the judiciary about technical evidence presented in impaired driving cases, including SFST and DEC testimony and new technology applications;
- Educate the judiciary in appropriate and effective sanctions for offenders including violators of commercial motor vehicle safety regulations;
- Ensure that judges are knowledgeable and prepared to adjudicate youthful offender cases in an appropriate and aggressive manner;
- Include judges in community leadership roles and involve them in public education programs and prevention efforts without violating the state’s statutes on judicial ethics;
- Encourage judges to create innovative programs such as Teen Courts or Courtroom in the Classroom programs — and provide the necessary support to implement such innovative programs;
- Although judges may be prohibited by law from supporting law enforcement or prosecution specifically or from supporting specific legislation, a comprehensive program should seek to find ways to include judges in community partnerships and coalition building; and
- Support an effective parole and probation program to increase the accountability of the offender and the effectiveness of the court-imposed sanctions.
C. Treatment
Many first-time impaired driving offenders — and most repeat offenders — have substantial substance abuse problems that affect their entire lives, not just their driving. However, such problems have neither prevented nor deterred these offenders from impaired driving.
Diagnosis and Screening
A systematic program should be in place to evaluate persons who have been convicted of an impaired driving offense to determine if they have an alcohol or drug abuse problem. This evaluation should be:
- Required by law;
- Conducted by qualified personnel prior to sentencing; and
- Used to decide whether a substance abuse treatment program should be part of the sanctions imposed.
Treatment and Rehabilitation
States and communities are encouraged to establish and maintain programs to treat alcohol and other drug-dependent persons referred through traffic courts and other sources. These programs should:
- Ensure that those referred for impaired driving offenses only be permitted to drive again when their substance abuse problems are under control;
- Be conducted in addition to, and definitely not as a substitute for, license restrictions and other sanctions; and
- Be conducted separately for youth.
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