SCRAM Bracelets May Lead To Better Sentencing In Multiple DUI Offense Cases

December 23, 2011 (Press-News.org) In third, fourth, and multiple offense DUI cases, a defendant is often looking at a lengthy mandatory jail term or prison sentence. This can be true even where one's most recent prior offense is eight or nine years old, no one was hurt, and the defendant is currently holding a great job, with a young family to provide for.

Traditionally, in many such situations, the main recognized alternative to jail has been Work Furlough. Work Furlough can be compared to a very tightly run motel, where people are released during their working hours - such that they can keep their job.

The Problems with Work Furlough

A complication in DUI situations arises where individuals who have lost their licenses must either take public transportation to work, or have a good friend with a valid license, etc., give them a ride back and forth to work. This becomes all the more difficult when the Work Furlough Facility is located in one part of the county, and one's work is a long and traffic congested commute away.

In some situations--even though a given defendant and his job is a perfect fit for work furlough, it cannot be ordered because, as a practical matter, there are insurmountable transportation difficulties.

For instance, when the Work Furlough Facility is located near downtown San Diego, but the defendant works in the far east or north county--where public transportation unavailable, and where there is no one else to drive them, work furlough can't help.

Another factor that makes Work Furlough difficult for many people is that it is not cheap, often costing well over one thousand dollars a month.

A Workable Alternative to Jail and Work Furlough--Electronic Surveillance

A second recognized alternative to jail has been Electronic Surveillance--sometimes known as "house arrest." Traditionally, in electronic surveillance cases, a defendant would wear an electronic ankle bracelet, set up with an electronic monitoring device in their home to ensure the subjects presence.

The monitoring device would have a breathalyzer capacity, and individuals could be required to provide breath samples at random intervals. A great thing about electronic surveillance is that, as in work furlough, defendants are allowed to go to their work and thus keep their job. They could further attend alcohol counseling programs and AA meetings.

Thus in many cases--individuals ordered to electronic surveillance together with alcohol programs and counseling--obtained optimal results--truly turning their lives around, and learning how to live without alcohol.

A widely respected San Diego Superior Court Judge once subjected himself to the rigors of electronic supervision, and he posted his most favorable findings of the program outside his courtroom door. Electronic supervision can really help individuals turn their life around, and cost the taxpayers nothing, as a defendant can be ordered to pay for his own costs.

Electronic surveillance is also often the best custodial alternative where a given defendant has a small child or children to take care of, or where seniors need to be cared for, or where a given individual has serious medical issues to cope with.

One problem with electronic supervision is that some members of the judicial system remain skeptical of the concept of house arrest being sufficiently punitive and providing inadequate punishment or rehabilitation. This is where the high tech 24/7 alcohol monitoring capabilities of modern SCRAM bracelets can really bridge the gap.

How a SCRAM Bracelet Works

The SCRAM bracelet is worn around the ankle, and records transdermal alcohol measurements generated by the perspiration emanating from the skin every 30 minutes. This information is then sent via a modem to the monitoring service or law enforcement on a regular schedule.

This allows easy monitoring of multiple individuals, and maintains a complete record of the individual's activity during the entire period of their electronic surveillance, including any attempts to remove the bracelet and other attempts to tamper with the device.

Judges may be inclined to offer a better sentence when the individual has recognized their alcohol problem and demonstrated a willingness to address it in a positive manner by finding a treatment program on their own, combined with the assurance of electronic monitoring by a SCRAM bracelet.

For an individual with multiple DUIs, the courts are not deposed to leniency. No prosecutor or judge wants to have a sentencing to come back to haunt them, should an offender be rearrested (or worse) while on house arrest or a reduced sentence.

However, if you have been arrested on your third or fourth DUI, you may be able to receive a much better treatment from the prosecutors and judges by starting your own treatment program.

If you begin, within days of your arrest, an in-patient or outpatient alcohol treatment program, together with use of a SCRAM bracelet, the courts may view your case in a more favorable light and grant house arrest as a sentence

Huge Cost Savings to the Taxpayers

Given the ongoing budget crises in California, all levels of government are looking for ways to save expenses. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has a budget of over $10 billion and that does not include the cities and counties and their law enforcement costs.

With thousands of DUI prosecutions and convictions, there is considerable pressure on prison and jail facilitates to provide sufficient space for all the prisoners. In fact, the California State Prisons are so overcrowded that they have been "outsourcing" prisoners to county jails. This means those facilities have less space for DUI convictions.

Some counties in California have formally begun using SCRAM bracelets for some DUI offenders. Rather than jail time, a few counties are using DUI SCRAM bracelets and they allow law enforcement to monitor individual at home, and ensure compliance with travel restrictions and alcohol use.

Positive Reviews from Counties Using SCRAM Monitoring

A news article in the Press-Enterprise reports that Riverside County officials are happy with the performance of the bracelets. Riverside County supervisor Jeff Stone is quoted in the story as saying "It is proving to be a very useful tool."

DUIs are expensive, for both the individual and the state. California and the individual counties spend considerable sums enforcing the DUI laws and prosecuting the offenders.

The use of the system allows the county to save the cost of incarcerating DUI offenders and opens those cells up for more serious offenders.

Lowers the Instance of Repeat Offenders

Jail time has proven ineffective as a means of altering the behavior of serious repeat DUI offenders. The SCRAM bracelets appear to be much more effective, especially if worn more than 90 days.

The ultimate goal of all DUI prosecution is to reduce the incidence of DUIs. Unfortunately, incarceration does not reduce recidivism, because it fails to deal with the underlying substance abuse issue.

Use of SCRAM bracelets and treatment programs appear to offer the best, most cost effective method of changing the behavior of DUI offenders. The constant monitoring and the inability of the user to tamper with the device, allow near-real time intervention to help offenders develop the habits they need to learn to avoid continued abuse. In addition, if worn voluntarily, it supplies a judge with the evidence they need to offer a less severe sentence.

Article provided by The Law Offices of Mark R DeYoe
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