October 18, 2005
City Council Passes DUI Bill
Fear no longer, social drinkers -- that glass of wine with dinner won't land you in jail for the night.
Today the D.C. City Council passed emergency legislation establishing .05 as the blood alcohol content level below which a driver is presumed not to be intoxicated. The measure, sponsored by Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), passed on a 9-3 vote. Only Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6), Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), and Phil Mendelson opposed the legislation, while Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) was not present for the vote. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams opposed the legislation, writing:
Let me assure you that the Metropolitan Police Department is not unfairly targeting drivers who have a drink at dinner. During 2004, MPD arrested less than 100 people with a blood alcohol content ("BAC") of less than 0.08% and the vast majority of that small number was in the 0.05% to 0.07% BAC range.Never a known issue, the District's zero tolerance policy was exposed when a Post report described Debra Bolton's ordeal, which started with a glass of wine and ended with a night in jail and $2,000 in court fees fighting a DUI charge. Though she ultimately prevailed, District social types recoiled in horror at the prospect of having to sip on non-alcoholic alternatives at after-work functions, flooding members of the City Council with angry emails and calls.
Upon passage of the legislation, Schwartz declared, "D.C. is once again open for business," winning her the "Most Dramatic Statement After a Legislative Victory" prize for the day.
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Go Carol Schwartz! Now she wants us to drink and drive. And just a few months ago she wanted to ban alcohol altogether!
Doesn't the opposed Mayor have to sign it? Can he veto it?
My favorite part of the article.
"Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) was absent."
Yeah! Now if we can do something about those pesky open container laws.
I guess this is a good thing. DC has far too many laws. I've never lived somewhere so 1984ish. They have a law and way to catch you doing everything here. DC gives "liberals" a bad name, big brother is everywhere here, almost makes me want to turn conservative... ok maybe not but still.
Thank GOD our Council is tackling the important issues of out city, instead of screwing around with the rising murder rate, poor education system, preparing for a potential terrorist attack. Now I can have that half sip of wine before driving those four block to my apartment. I can now sleep at night.
One of the major contributing factors to the 1984ish feel, jyoung, is that poor local governance only exacerbates the deleterious effects of Congress' overarching control of the District and their penchant for subjecting DC to whatever trendy social-engineering experiments they dream up. And it doesn't matter what party is in charge.
That's good government for you. Identify a problem, create a solution and implement it!
Councilman Phil Mendelson wants to lock you up for having a beer.
He voted to keep the Prohibition style law in place.
Is he a Republican?
Curious George,
I'm wondering the same thing. If there are enough votes, I suppose the Council could override a mayoral veto of this bill.
I think if it passed 9 to 3, then it's a veto-proof majority, right?
I for one am glad they passed this. Arresting someone with a 0.01 count is absurd. They pose no additional risk whatsoever, and some sanctimonious officer preaching "zero tolerance" does not change that fact.
Is it the most important priority in the District? Of course not. But I for one do not like the idea of being arrested for something that has no business whatsoever being illegal. So kudos to the Council for having the guts to push back on this one.
Haw haw! The restaurant and hospitality industry is DC's only cash cow. The .01 percent law was shooting themselves in the foot. Now the council can go back to jacking the hotel/parking/cigarette tax to build more rapidly emptying schools. While they're at it, they need to pass a law reminding criminals that they're not allowed to own guns in DC. Apparently, some of them are forgetting and using them to commit crimes.
What's the cheapest liquor store in D.C.? This is front page material by the way...someone take notice.
This is a huge PR stunt on behalf of the City Council. Nothing more.
In DC, police still maintain the discretion to judge, based on field sobriety tests, whether or not a supposed drunk driver, will be arrested and taken in to take the breathalyzer. arrested first, breathalyzer second; .00 vs .08. doesn't matter.
So under this emergency DUI legislation, are policemen forced to be less discriminatory and therefore arrest less people? no. Are prosecutors forced to drop more cases and erase arrest records? no.
Dozens of people I know are sending “phew” and “thank god” emails around about the new legislation claiming 05 to 08 as neutral. They’ve reacted too soon. I don’t think it’ll change much unless the court/police goes along with it...and passes a law to erase the ARREST from one's record.
I was arrested in summer 1998 for a .02 and although the case was dropped, the arrest will be on my record forever - yup, forever.
"Not Uptight," you must be new to the city. Mendelson is the most committed, pro-consumer, progressive member of the city council.