Mark Grace heading to jail

[Brian26]

Originally Posted by ZombieRob

Overall a great guy. Was a known party goer while here. Hope he gets it together. Man after all stole Janine Turner away from Aikman

Don't forget Lauren Holly. No slumpbuster there.

[TDog]

Originally Posted by kobo

Four months in jail and 2 years of probation for his 2nd DUI in a 15 month span is considered not ****ing around? And he gets to leave jail to go work. Doesn't seem all that harsh to me.

It's relative. When I worked there, Arizona had a mandatory day in jail and a license suspension for the first DUI and increasing mandatory jail time, to the point where Maricopa County had to build a fairly large jail complex in tents in the desert. Plea bargaining was forbidden, which angered attorneys. I'm not sure anymore where it becomes a felony with mandatory prison time. When I moved to Wisconsin, I saw people getting license suspensions and community service sentences with their eighth convictions. Maybe they had good lawyers, though.

Of course, in Arizona, DUI is a criminal offense, either misdemeanor or felony, as opposed to a traffic violation, so a conviction affects more than points against your license.

It was surprising as Arizona increaesd their DUI penalties to see that there were still large numbers of people driving drunk. You would think the penalties would be a deterent. There were some in the Legislature that argued the increased penalties were creating a financial hardship on state and county governments. But the mandatory fines are big too.

[ComiskeyBrewer]

Originally Posted by TDog

When I moved to Wisconsin, I saw people getting license suspensions and community service sentences with their eighth convictions. Maybe they had good lawyers, though.

They must have(or the laws have been changed), Wisconsin currently has a 3-10 year sentence for 7th-8th-9th OWI charges. However, the tiers below that are surprisingly lax(You can get as little as 6 months for a 5th DUI).

[TDog]

Originally Posted by ComiskeyBrewer

They must have(or the laws have been changed), Wisconsin currently has a 3-10 year sentence for 7th-8th-9th OWI charges. However, the tiers below that are surprisingly lax(You can get as little as 6 months for a 5th DUI).

The Wisconsin drunk-driving sentences I was referencing go back a decade or more. I left the state in 2003. What surprised me when I moved there was the difference in attitude toward drunk drivers in Wisconsin, as if everyone does it and the people getting caught were just unlucky. I'm glad to see attitudes have changed.

There are many who will never take drunk driving seriously, though. I read that publicans (pub owners) in Ireland are lobbying to made drunk driving legal outside of the cities becuase rural pubs are suffering economically. I'm not sure what at what threshold someone is presemed drunk in the Republic of Ireland because it is expressed in different terms than in the U.S., but Northern Ireland, I have read, has a threshold of .35 percent.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by TDog

There are many who will never take drunk driving seriously, though. I read that publicans (pub owners) in Ireland are lobbying to made drunk driving legal outside of the cities becuase rural pubs are suffering economically. I'm not sure what at what threshold someone is presemed drunk in the Republic of Ireland because it is expressed in different terms than in the U.S., but Northern Ireland, I have read, has a threshold of .35 percent.

You don't even have to look across the pond...

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/31/mo...g-a-way-of-li/

[TheVulture]

Originally Posted by Brian26

Don't forget Lauren Holly. No slumpbuster there.

Lauren Holly and Janine Turner, eh? The man has taste, I'll give him that.

[Nellie_Fox]

Originally Posted by TDog

I'm not sure what at what threshold someone is presumed drunk in the Republic of Ireland because it is expressed in different terms than in the U.S., but Northern Ireland, I have read, has a threshold of .35 percent.

80 mg per 100 mL of blood equals .08, same as here.

[Irishsoxfan]

Originally Posted by Nellie_Fox

80 mg per 100 mL of blood equals .08, same as here.

Actually we have changed it here recently to 50mg for fully licensed drivers and 20mg for those on provisional licenses.. Thankfully the proposal by a very small amount of local councillors, most of whom are also publicans was given very short shrift.