NCJ Number
101710
Date Published
1986
Length
38 pages
Annotation
Case statistics on drunk driving offenders and interviews with judicial officers and court administrators formed the basis of an analysis of the impact of California's 1982 laws on the Los Angeles County municipal court system during the first 3 years after the legislation went into effect.
Abstract
The laws on driving under the influence increased all penalties, restricted plea bargaining, made alcohol programs mandatory for most first offenders, and made an automatic misdemeanor of driving with .10 percent or more blood alcohol. The new laws produced an initial decline in the number of arrests, suggesting that publicity regarding the law reduced the incidence or drinking and driving. However, subsequent patterns varied. Fluctuations suggested variations in law enforcement resources rather than in drinking and driving. The numbers of defendants accused of misdemeanors was 5.1 percent higher in the first 3 years after enactment than in the 3 years before enactment. The law resulted in fewer guilty pleas in 1982 and 1983, as expected. Disposition time lengthened in several judicial districts because of increases in the numbers of defendants represented by counsel and delays in entering guilty pleas. The dramatic increase in the number of trials was one of the most significant effects of the laws. Although results varied among judicial districts, the average case has required more court time and judicial resources than before the law revision. Footnotes, figures, tables, appended tables.