| 20th Safe & Sober Planner |
PROSECUTION, ADJUDICATION, AND TREATMENT
- National Traffic Law Center
The National Traffic Law Center (NTLC), through funding from NHTSA, provides technical assistance and legal research to prosecutors, judges and law enforcement agencies on: Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (horizontal gaze nystagmus), Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DEC), Administrative License Revocation, vehicular homicide, crash reconstruction, implied consent, impoundment, forfeiture, breath/blood testing, passive breath testing, zero alcohol tolerance, and many other highway safety related topics to ensure good court decisions and case law. The clearinghouse contains: case law, model legislation, research studies, state statutes, training materials, trial documents, and a directory of professionals who work in the fields of crash reconstruction, toxicology, drug recognition, and others.The NTLC publishes a quarterly newsletter, Between the Lines, that highlights current highway safety related legal issues. New products include — Prior Convictions in DUI Prosecutions — A Prosecutor’s Guide to Prove Out-of-State DUI/DWI Convictions (2nd Edition) and Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus: The Science and The Law — a resource guide for judges, prosecutors and law enforcement on horizontal gaze nystagmus as a component of NHTSA’s Standardized Field Sobriety Testing program. A cooperative effort through NHTSA by NTLC, and the National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators produced - Administrator’s Guide for Trial Advocacy Training Courses a complete guide for planning and conducting Prosecution of Driving while Under the Influence, Prosecuting the Drugged Driver and Lethal Weapon: DUI Homicide courses.
The National Traffic Law Center located at 99 Canal Center Plaza, Suite 510, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, PH: 703-549-4253, FAX: 703-386-3195.
- Judicial Training Program
The National Judicial College (Reno, Nevada) works with NHTSA through a cooperative agreement to encourage training in the Adjudication of DWI in the state judicial education programs. Participating states are provided scholarships to a team of faculty selected by the state to attend faculty development training at the College in Reno. Each team may have up to 10 members. Members must include representatives from: the State Judicial Educator’s office; a representative from the State Highway Safety Office; judges; prosecutors; law enforcement officers; defense attorneys; toxicologist; and other professionals as the state selects. Each team participates in a four-day educational seminar on making presentations in continuing education programs. Each state team develops an action plan for the educational program(s) they will conduct in their state after participating in the program at the College. - Traffic Court Technology Seminars and Judicial Fellowship Program
The American Bar Association (ABA) works with NHTSA through a cooperative agreement to conduct regional seminars on technology used in traffic cases for detection and prosecution, as well as technology to be used in traffic courts for more effective adjudication and sanctioning. The ABA will also administer the NHTSA Judicial Fellowship program for a sitting judge to participate on a part-time basis as the Judicial Fellow. Duties of the Fellow include legal research and writing, professional journal articles, public speaking, educational programs, providing technical assistance to NHTSA and the Department, and serving as a liaison between NHTSA and national judicial organizations. The ABA will also be publishing a quarterly newsletter for judges on traffic safety issues and developing products for judicial outreach to be used by judges in their local communities for ethical community leadership roles and involvement. - Prosecutor Outreach Program
The National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators (NAPC) works under a cooperative agreement to provide training at the state level for prosecutors in DWI cases. The members of NAPC are each coordinators for prosecutor training in their respective state and work directly with local prosecutors for their state. The courses they conduct are Prosecutor Faculty Development, Prosecution of DWI, Prosecuting the Drugged Driver, and Lethal Weapon: DUI Homicide. NAPC members set up the training, promote it, enroll prosecutors to attend, and provide the evaluation and follow-up. In addition the NAPC members in many states have a role as legislative liaisons to their state legislatures for the prosecutors in their states. NAPC publishes a quarterly newsletter which includes the training schedule and keeps the prosecutor coordinators informed of the priorities and activities of NHTSA. NAPC is developing a Prosecutor’s Public Relations Kit for Highway Safety which will provide local prosecutors with materials and instructions to support each activity and event in support of the You Drink & Drive. You Lose. Campaign. The Kits will include instructions to prosecutors and their staff on community coalition building, media relations, and public education and awareness campaigns. - A Sentencing Guide for Judges and Prosecutors
In 1996, NHTSA and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) collaborated to develop A Guide to Sentencing DUI Offenders to facilitate training for judges and prosecutors involved in DUI Sentencing. This publication has been widely used and is still available. Recognizing that youth under 21 often involve special circumstances, NHTSA and NIAAA have teamed up again to develop a new guide for judges and prosecutors called Sentencing and Dispositions of Youth DUI and Other Alcohol Offenses: A Guide for Judges and Prosecutors. This new document has been designed to complement the adult guide. - DWI Conviction Rates and Failures to Appear
Methods for calculating DWI conviction rates vary among jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction, and sometimes agencies within the same jurisdiction, calculate these rates differently due to diverse adjudication proceedings (e.g., pre-trial diversion programs or plea negotiations). NHTSA is conducting research to examine different ways of calculating conviction rates by using data from ten sites and will determine the implications (both pro and con) of each of these methods. (In press) - Outstanding DWI Warrants
Many individuals who are arrested for DWI are never convicted of their crime. A NHTSA study identified defendants failing to appear (FTA) at court as a contributing factor in this adjudication problem. Courts generally issue warrants for those with FTAs, but in many places, law enforcement agencies can not devote personnel to apprehend the missing offenders. In other cases, the defendant can’t be found because they have moved, possibly even leaving town. These situations weaken the deterrence effect of DWI arrests — offenders learn that they can drive impaired and not face the consequences for their illegal and dangerous actions. NHTSA is conducting research to determine the nature and extent of the outstanding DWI warrant problem and to identify promising strategies that jurisdictions are currently using to minimize the problem in their community. - National Judicial Leadership Conference
The National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, was the site for the National Judicial Leadership Conference in March 1999. This conference brought 100 judges from 47 states in for 3-1/2 days to educate judges on community leadership and outreach within the boundaries of state judicial ethics codes. A follow-up conference will be held in September 2000 to give the judges an opportunity to showcase their local initiatives in highway safety and to give the opportunity for more judges to gain the skills to take an active community leadership role. - Legislative Tracking System Available for All States
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) maintains a legislative tracking system on NHTSA’s web page on all highway safety issues by state, region, and issue. The tracking system is updated weekly at a minimum during the legislative sessions. It is updated more frequently at times and it includes information about specific bills, their status, and any other relevant information regarding the action scheduled to be taken on the bill including when it is passed and enacted. This system is available to the public at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ncsl. The password "Guest" is required to enter the system and instructions for inserting it are given on the initial page of the tracking system. - NAPC Creates Prosecutor’s Public Relations Kit on Highway Safety
The National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators (NAPC) is in the process of creating a Prosecutor’s Public Relations Kit on Highway Safety to be distributed to local prosecutors throughout the country. The Kit will be a box similar to the ones designed for the .08 Resource Kit. A calendar will accompany the Kit box which will lay out each mobilization for the next year and include planning and action dates the prosecutors should observe in preparation to support each mobilization. The prosecutors have requested that they receive any planners NHTSA develops to support the mobilizations, and have recommended a how-to sheet outlining exactly what steps the prosecutor should take to support each mobilization including letters to the editor or articles, radio public service announcements, and specific activities to conduct or support. Each how-to sheet will be one-page in length with quick and easy instructions. The NAPC will distribute these kits to the prosecutors in their states and will work with local prosecutors to support NHTSA mobilizations and any priority areas which arise in the next year. - Juvenile Court Judges Training
A training manual and workshop series is being developed by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges under a NHTSA grant. The workshop will focus on the actions judges can take both on and off the bench to reduce impaired driving by youth. The training manual is being updated to include drug-impaired driving issues. Additionally, the video Beyond The Bench discusses the role judges can take outside of the courtroom. - Strategies for Success: Combating Juvenile DUI
This booklet discusses the roles criminal justice professionals can play in developing a coordinated approach to handling juvenile alcohol and impaired driving offenses. It is based on the experience of five demonstration sites in a project jointly funded by NHTSA and the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. - Alternatives Sanctions Research
DOT HS 808 493
NHTSA has been examining the effectiveness of various "alternative sentences" for DWI offenders. One project examined the home detention with electronic monitoring and intensive probation supervision (Evaluation of Alternative Programs for Repeat DWI Offenders; 1996). Another project examined a Day Reporting Center (final report is in press). Other current projects are examining ignition interlocks and a boot camp program for DWI offenders. (In press)DOT HS 808 842
A recently completed research project examined the effectiveness of a sanctioning program that tailored the sanctions depending upon the individual circumstances and needs of the offender. (Evaluation of an Individualized Sanctioning Program; 1999). - DUI Court Program
Through a NHTSA innovative grant, the Mid-America Research Institute is evaluating the effectiveness of a DUI Court program in Maricopa County (Phoenix), Arizona. The DUI Court is modeled after an existing Drug Court program. It is a form of intensive supervision which combines offender accountability and treatment and focuses on education, alcohol testing, and frequent court reviews by the presiding judge. The unique aspect of the program is the high level of judicial involvement. By agreeing to a random-assignment study, the county has ensured a high quality evaluation of their DUI court model. The results will tell which program has the greatest impact on reducing recidivism by multiple DUI offenders: the DUI Court, or traditional probation services. A detailed description of how the DUI Court is operated will be included in the final report due in 2000. - Youth Visitation Program
Through a NHTSA grant, the Corrective Behavior Institute (CBI) has replicated a successful program in numerous locations throughout the country, targeting youthful alcohol and impaired driving offenders. The "Youth Visitation Program" provides alcohol education and a coroners presentation to participants referred by the courts. The highlight of the program is a one-on-one visit to a local emergency room or trauma center on a weekend night to witness, first-hand, the tragedy that results from alcohol-related incidents. The program has documented very low recidivism rates. - Teen Courts
NHTSA, in partnership with the Departments of Justice, has produced a manual, Peer Justice and Youth Empowerment - An Implementation Guide for Teen Court Programs, and training program to assist communities in developing Teen Court programs. These are actual "courts" which decide sanctions for youthful offenders. These programs have provided effective methods of dealing with underage drinking and some traffic offenses, getting youth involved in solving the problem and lessening the regular court workload.
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