At a meeting in Washington, the National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that all 50 states lower the threshold to reduce the nation's drunk driving death toll, which has plateaued at about 10,000 deaths a year. A vote on the recommendation is expected to take place immediately.

Lowering the rate to 0.05 would save about 500 to 800 lives every year, NTSB staff members said, and is a crucial part of the board's attempt to eliminate drunken driving in the United States

See the full CNN story at: http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/14/us/ntsb-blood-alcohol/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

  

On May 14, 1988, 25 years ago today, a school bus carrying 67 people, nearly all of them children, was returning from a church youth group field trip to an amusement park. While they were driving through Carroll County, KY, a drunk driver driving on the wrong side of the road crashed into the bus head-on. The fiery crash killed 27 people – 24 children, the bus driver and two adult chaperones – and injured 34 others.

With your support, we’ve come a long way in drunk driving awareness, education and prevention in the past 25 years. But we have so much left to do. Still today, 27 people die each day as a result of drunk driving -- the equivalent of one Kentucky bus crash every day. 

As a part of the crash anniversary, MADD is partnering with the filmmakers behind a new feature documentary film, IMPACT: AFTER THE CRASH, which tells some of the powerful stories of loss and healing through interviews with many of the crash survivors and victims’ family members. MADD, the filmmakers, crash survivors, victims’ families and local residents will hold a public memorial honoring the victims and survivors of the crash. There will also be a private screening of IMPACT, as well as the first public screening of the film.

This week, we honor and remember those impacted by the tragic Kentucky bus crash, and hope that their stories of survivorship will inspire others in their healing journey.

Warmly,

Jan Withers
MADD National President

Survivors of the Worst Drunk Driving Crash in History Look Back

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20700091,00.html

The US Supreme court held that an officer forceably taking blood evidence from a DUI suspect after probable cause but without any exigent circumstances, is an unreasonble search in violation of the 4th Amendment.   The court narrowed the interpretation of prior cases on this point (Schmerber), concluding that the dissipation of alcohol was only one factor to consider in the evaluation of exigent circumstances.  The opinion rejects a per se approach to warrantless blood testing and compels a case-by-case evaluation of the totality of the facts.  

The full case is available here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/11-1425_cb8e.pdf

NTSB Recommends Ignition Interlocks for All First-Time DWI Offenders and Endorses Development of Passive Alcohol-Detection Technology

In its study on wrong-way driving crashes adopted today, the National Transportation Safety Board cited alcohol-impaired driving as the leading cause of these collisions and recommended that all first-offender alcohol-impaired drivers be required to have ignition interlocks installed on their personal vehicles.

The text of the press release can be found here

A list of the report’s conclusions can be found here

A fact sheet summarizing the key findings can be found here

National media:

Washington Post article can be found here

Los Angeles Times article can be found here

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCE LAUNCH OF NATIONAL COMMISSION ON FORENSIC SCIENCE

 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced today the establishment of a National Commission on Forensic Science as part of a new initiative to strengthen and enhance the practice of forensic science. The National Commission on Forensic Science will be composed of approximately 30 members, bringing together forensic science service practitioners, academic researchers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and other relevant stakeholders to develop policy recommendations for the Attorney General. The commission will consider guidance on practices for federal, state and local forensic science laboratories developed by groups of forensic science practitioners and academic researchers administered by NIST. 

 

“Forensic science is an essential tool in the administration of justice and needs to be continually evaluated as science progresses,” said Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole. “Forensic science helps identify perpetrators, convict the guilty, exonerate the innocent, and protect public safety. This initiative is led by the principle that scientifically valid and accurate forensic analysis strengthens all aspects of our justice system.” 

 

The full Press Release is here. 

 

In ASA vs. DEA, the DC Circuit was asked to decide whether the DEA properly classified Marijuana as a Schedule1 drug--a drug having no accepted medical use.  The court concluded that the DEA did not abuse its discretion in concluding that as of 2011-the scientific studies do not support a conclusion that marijuana has an accepted medical use.  The court supported the DEA assessment that simply because States are making marijuana legal under state law does not affect scientific acceptance.  In the absence of scientific studies, DEA can continue to keep marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug. 

The full Opinion may be found here:ASA vs. DEA (2012) 

The state supreme court today reinstated the Felony DUI conviction of a Grant County driver.  The Court of Appeals had reversed Mr. Arreola's conviction concluding it was a pretext stop, which violated the driver's constitutional rights.  While the officer had suspicions the driver was intoxicated because of an earlier DUI complaint, the officer stopped the car for a muffler violation.   In this "mixed motive" circumstance, where officers have both lawful and unlawful basis for a stop, the State Supreme Court concluded that officers are allowed to exercise their discretion to make the stop.

The ruling was critical to the success of the Target Zero Teams concept funded by the legislature and the centerpiece for DUI enforcement in urban areas.  If the earlier court of appeals decision on Arreola had survived, many DUI investigations would likely have been reversed because DUI teams are trained to look for infractions that indirectly suggest DUI driving.   Under the court of appeals reasoning, stopping a driver for having their headlights out, when the DUI emphasis officer was highly motivated by DUI investigations, would likely have doomed the arrest.   

The new Arreola opinion makes clear that officers who regularly enforce the traffic code can continue to do so without fear that DUI suspicions will overshadow the stop.   

The majority opinion is here.    The two member dissent is here. 

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) Matt Bush, a former top overall major league draft pick, has been sentenced to four years and three months in prison for a drunken driving hit-and-run crash in Florida.

As part of a deal, the 27-year-old pleaded no contest Tuesday to driving under the influence with serious bodily injury. Six other counts in the March crash were dropped. Because it's his third DUI, Bush will also lose his license for 10 years. He has already spent nine months in jail.

Bush's attorney, Russell Kirshy, called the deal fair.

Authorities say Bush's blood alcohol level was 0.18 percent - more than twice the legal limit - when he hit 72-year-old Tony Tufano's motorcycle and left the scene in North Port, about 40 miles northwest of Fort Myers.

Bush was the top pick in 2004 and pitched in the minors. The Tampa Bay Rays released him in October.

The Associated Press

The DEA shows no sign of ignoring state marijuana sales.  Little more than a month ago, a federal jury awarded $1.7 million to the government.   Importantly, the federal judge agreed that federal forfeiture law does not allow reduction for start up costs or operational costs.  The growers were forced to pay the amount they took in sales--meaning they lost their entire investment and all profits.  

The full article on the case is here: Missoulan Article  

The ruling points out the precarious position of manufacturers and the State itself.  Nothing forbids the DEA from simply waiting for a year or more, then seizing the entire income from both.  Just as in Montana, the growers and distributers would be bankrupt.  The bigger targer is, of course, the State.  If the State actually collects millions in taxes while violating federal law--that is a pretty easy target.   Note that seizure would take all taxes collected from marijuana--leaving the state with big bills for its new marijuana regulatory agency. 

National Forensic Laboratory Information System: 2011 Annual Report

U.S. Dept of Justice; Drug Enforcement Administration

Office of Diversion Control; November 2012

 

Download the report here

 

An estimated 1,660,216 drug reports were submitted to State and local forensic laboratories in the United States from January 1 through December 31, 2011, and analyzed by March 31, 2012.

This is a decrease of 3% from the 1,713,360 drug reports identified during2010.

 

Cannabis/THC was the most frequently identified drug (536,630 reports) in 2011, followed bycocaine (333,645 reports), methamphetamine (160,960 reports), and heroin (119,765 reports).