Sargent County, ND-
The state's attorney for Sargent County, North Dakota has used his power to lessen charges for first time DUI offenders. Lyle Bopp has reduced many DUI cases to reckless driving. He states several reasons for lessening the charges. One is that he wants to give people whom have made a mistake a second chance. He also said that he doesn't want to burden people with heavy car insurance premiums in a rural county that doesn't have public transportation.
Another reason for reducing charges, Bopp admits, is in protest of recent budget cuts for the Department of Transportation in Sargent County. Local law enforcement and the State Highway Patrol are discouraged by Bopp's actions.
Bopp follows his own set of standards when it comes to deciding if a person will receive a lesser charge. He stated that he will not amend charges for repeat offenders, or person with a high blood alcohol content, or 0.15 or higher.
Does Bopp have the right, as an elected official, to make decisions that circumvent law? Is he setting a bad precedence for other counties in the state? Part of me wants to say he is way out of line, while the other part of me can sympathize with his efforts, however egotistical they may sound.
I don't feel that he alone should be making the judgement call in these cases. What about the District Judge and his/her job to uphold and interpret the law? What about the arresting officers who are doing their best to keep citizens safe?
Officers feel that Bopp may be sending the wrong message when it comes to drinking and driving. I completely agree with that assessment. It is very likely that people won't take the offense as serious if they know that they won't be prosecuted to the normal extent.
I also feel that this isn't an issue where Bopp should be using it as protest for budget cuts in his county. I think he is downplaying the seriousness of the offense. It is a completely unrelated issue. He is an elected official who should stress his concerns through the proper channels, not by using his power to set examples and address a different issue entirely.
I don't have as much of a problem with him being liberal because he is concerned for those who have made a mistake. Insurance premiums can skyrocket after a DUI conviction. I don't want people's lives to be ruined over a mistake made while drinking. Although, I feel that this, to some degree, is just an excuse for him to display his displeasure with the DOT cuts.
This story is gaining attention from an article in the Fargo Forum, and I'm sure this isn't the last we will here about it.
Drunk driving is no little issue. I think it should be watched very carefully. Especially in North Dakota. More people die in drunk driving accidents in ND that in any other state.
ReplyDeleteIt's cool that he is giving people a second chance but isn't that just giving them the excuse to do it more sneakily the next time. If any thing he should be cracking down on it harder.
This is an awful idea. Of course, I don't live there, so I don't have a say in this, but honestly, it's not a good idea. I am so against people drinking and driving, and I think that if they're stupid enough to drive drunk, they deserve to be charged and have their insurance spiked. People don't learn without consequences, and no one person should be excused from charges given to DUI victims.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is really stupid if anything are DUI laws should be harder. Driving drunk is one of the dumbest things to do, as we all know getting a DUI can really cost a lot of money and if we were to decide make are DUI laws cheaper that would just give more idiots a reason to drive. Are number of DUI's is already really high so we honestly don't need an idiot like this trying to lower them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is the right idea at all. Drinking and driving is a really big issue, and I am against it. I live in Sargent County so I will be affected by this. It just seems wrong to me that they are making the laws worse in my opinion. They should be getting tougher, not easier.
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