HOODWINKED BY DWI REFORM

HOODWINK: Pronunciation: 'hud-"wi[ng]k: To take in by deceptive means; to cause to accept what is false, especially by trickery or misrepresentation; to betray, deceive, dupe, fool; to conceal one's true motives by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end.

The fourth HOODWINK AWARD goes to those members of the Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and the ACLU who continually attempt to block DWI reform legislation and those members of the House Judiciary Committee who have refused to hear a bill that would take those multiple repeat DWI offenders off our roads.

Two letters to the editor about DWI in the Monday, November 12, 2007 Albuquerque Journal, deserve a response, because they are right on and offer solutions that have not been enacted. Gary Hays offers that penalties for drunk drivers are too light and that the Legislature and the power of the liquor lobby are to blame. R.J. Sarracino, in his letter, presents that alcohol sold at gas stations is the heart of the problem, and that the Legislature can’t figure it out. As a state senator who has offered solution after solution for the DWI problems to the New Mexico Legislature I have to concur with their assessments and frustrations. In this past legislative session, as well as legislative sessions before, I have introduced legislation that would specifically deal with each of the concerns brought up by these thoughtful private citizens and in this past legislative session I brought them forward at the request of the family of Gonzales, Garcia, and Collins families who suffered their tremendous loss, only to have our attempts dashed.

Senate Bill 451 would have amended the Habitual Offender Sentencing Act, to include a prior DWI felony conviction under the DWI statute, as a “useable" prior for enhancement purposes. Under the current habitual offender statute, persons convicted of more than one noncapital felony are considered habitual offenders whose basic sentences (for subsequent felonies) are increased by one year (for a second felony), four years (for a third felony) and eight years (for a fourth or subsequent felony). Since under the current statute, DWI felony convictions are not considered felony convictions for purposes of determining habitual offender status/sentence enhancement, passage of this bill would have taken these habitual DWI offenders off of our roads and protected our citizens. To some, this legislation may seem extreme, but we need to take extreme measures against those who continually put our family’s lives in danger even after we’ve taken away their driver’s licenses and vehicles, require them to blow in ignition interlock devices, or even had them spend the night in jail. Senate Bill 451 passed through the Senate with fierce opposition from the Criminal Defense Attorneys Association and the ACLU. It even passed through a committee in the House of Representatives, only to not even receive a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee, thereby killing the bill. This has happened year after year since I first introduced the bill the session after Rio Rancho High School Student Karen Ferreira was killed and her brother Doug injured for life by a multiple offending drunk driver on January 18, 2000. I always wonder how many other people have to die until we take these habitual offenders off our roads.

Senate Bill 191 would have removed gas stations from the definition of licensed liquor premise. Senate Bill 195 would have added a new section to the Liquor Control Act, which would make it a violation for a person licensed to sell alcohol to sell alcoholic beverages that had been refrigerated or otherwise cooled or chilled in any manner for consumption off the licensed premises. Once again, these bills were viewed as extreme measures and even with the testimony of the Garcia, Gonzales and Collins families, each bill was tabled in a Senate Committee killing any chance of further debate or passage. While you would think that prohibiting refrigerated alcohol sales at gas stations might make a difference, the pressure to resist change seems insurmountable. A large portion of gas station sales comes from sales of cold beer, although if it was prohibited no one station would have an advantage and they would save the cost of refrigeration. Who knows, maybe even the price of insurance would come down.

We can help solve the problem of DWI deaths in New Mexico and many legislators will have the political courage to do so, if we have a special session that just deals with that issue. That would give the public scrutiny and the ability to focus on where the opposition comes from and who is preventing us from enacting laws that protect New Mexico families.

The actual bills that were presented in the 2007 legislative session can be viewed on my website at www.senatorcarraro.com or on the Legislature's bill finder.

Contact:: Senator Joseph J. Carraro; 505-898-9369; joecarraro@aol.com