How Hard Is It To Get 90 Days In Jail for Messing Up Your DUI Sentence? Hard!
Former actress Lindsay Lohan will spend a couple of nights in jail-the jails of Los Angeles are too crowded to keep her for long!-because of her inability to make a weekly two-hour class. How hard is it to mess this up like this, in a city that processes thousands of drunk drivers, because everyone there drives drunk? It's unbelievable. Let's take it from a recent graduate of Los Angeles' alcohol education program! "I missed two classes so instead of my classes being done mid April, they were done in early May… You cannot go more than 21 days without going to class; when I wanted to go on vacation, I called and said ‘I will not be in town for two weeks' and they said, ‘k, bye!' meaning you could go 20 straight days of no school, without calling, without doing shit and still be on the right side of the law. People who were poor, had no way of transportation other than a 2 hour bus ride, ladies with no child care, even opiate addicts were able to get to these classes. You don't even need to be sober to go to this shit. It's 2 hours a week, once a week. After I had four absences I was told that if I was late one more time I would go before a judge and my ass could sent back to jail. You know what was an effective deterrent for jail? Going back to jail."
Doesn't she have people to fuck up for her?
Can we exchange her?
Let's exchange her for Barrabas!
I think we can get Schweinsteiger if we pay the transfer fee.
This story makes no sense to me. I had a DUI in LA *AFTER" Lindsay's in '07 and have since finished my classes, paid my fines, completed probation and got it expunged from my record. How the hell is Lindsay still in court over this? Obviously she didn't think she had to be compliant and now she gets to go to jail. It should not take THREE YEARS to go to 20 classes.
Even if she only spends a few days in jail, I can't begin to fathom doing it. 16 hrs in the drunk tank was all the "scared straight" I needed. That was easily one of the top 3 worst experiences of my life. I can't imagine having to do that for 25 days, or whatever it is they say she will actually serve. I mean, even the drinking water was nasty and the food was inedible. also, the toilets are just right in the middle of everything. I can't even think about the experience without feeling anxious/nauseous. Also the reason why I won't drive anymore even after one drink. I'd had three the night I was arrested, felt fine, and it cost me almost $10K. I've never taken a cab that cost that much.
Apropos of ridiculous DUI incidents, we were trying to figure out how much jail time Paris Hilton served last night (basically half the month of June), and I didn't realize that her BAC was 0.08 when she was caught.
20 years ago, this wouldn't have been a problem. 0.10 was the legal limit. But the hawkish anti-drinking brigade – most notably MADD, a fairly unreliable and troubled organization – fought to have it lowered. They'd actually like to have it down to 0.06. If given their way, they'd have it lowered to zero tolerance.
0.06 is probably what you'd get from a single drink in NYC, if you were unaccustomed to alcohol and you weighed under 130 lbs. 0.08 is not a hell of a lot to drink either for most people… two drinks, probably.
You got a raw deal and so did Paris. I will happily wag my finger and say, "You should have taken a cab", but enforcement of DUI is a big game of "gotcha" in this country on-par with state troopers hiding in the bushes during holiday weekends to catch interstate speeders. We have long, flat roads in this country that are dotted with bars. We have poor public transportation options at night in most places. We have a culture where most people live many miles away from where they work, eat, and play. We're not serious about preventing drunk driving. We're only serious about making people pay for it.
Totall agreed. I weigh just under 130 lbs and those three drinks were over the course of over 4 hours and dinner. Also, my BAC was .07 but the officers felt I was "clearly intoxicated" because I was arguing with them and, okay, being kind of an asshole. But what I learned was that its really not worth it to drive with any measurable amount of alcohol in your system. Maybe 99% of the time you'll be fine, but that 1% can cost you a shit load of money and create all kinds of legal and personal headaches.
I'm sure it's done in other cities as well, but around here busting drunk drivers is treated as a sport, a shamefest and a spectacle- DUI checkpoints are telegraphed on the local news but then frequently changed up, the police set up big roadblocks on busy thoroughfares for maximum intimidation, with humiliation for those detained provided by a "drunk bus" (all aboard for jail!) and a team of MADD mommies who glare. Scarlet Lettery!
I was surprised to read that the U.S. has one of the higher limits. Friends who visit from northern europe are always surprised at how often people drive after drinking. I guess it isn't as socially acceptable there. In the cities, the public transportation is better for sure. Where public transportation isn't an option, they use designated drivers and that person does not drink at all.
Being publicly shitfaced in most Continental European* countries is frowned upon, actually- you're supposed to have a tolerance and a sense of polite restraint.
*except our dearest Knifecrime Island of course!
*may or may not apply to Russia; don't know/scared to ask
Russia's limit was listed as "drunkeness" tbd by politsiya.
One of the most fascinating cultural stories I heard about tolerance propriety was from a friend who is from an extremely wealthy (a la) Mexican family. At social gatherings, they would set up glasses in the middle of the table, some filled with apple juice and others whiskey. The kids would have to drink what they chose and learn to hold their liquor socially.
@brian: so because the society as a whole is not serious about preventing drunk driving and enforcement is less than ideal, those who do it and get caught are getting a "raw deal?"
Personally, to me Russia is its own continent; a charming if intimidating blend of Northwestern Asia and Eastern Europe.
We have a reckless drinking culture, I think. This old polish lady told me that they always serve wine to kids so that they learn how it feels and how to limit themselves. (Actually, not sure it works with Poles.)
@Art: * by definition, Knifecrime Island isn't a part of Continental Europe, right?
@Clarence: yes, I meant to clarify that ("and by Continental we exclude Knifecrime Island, naturally!") and realized I had forgotten after SUBMIT. My bad.
@garge, winchester: agreed, my folks used to give me controlled amounts. I'd say it worked, overall.
Now I want a copy of that book… some of my relatives were (and for all I know, still are) part of that crowd.
@AY: if you can't find it in a library, it is worth the 40$ (and I say this having a general aversion to owning photo books)
a girl who doesn't like photo books?!
-blinking/stammering-
"Rest, rest, dear spirit" (Cassirer), my issue is largely with ownership. I am accustomed to 200 sq/ft, so each material possession has high stakes. But also? I usually need my photographies more animated than monograph form to quell the yawns.
@abe: That is, pretty much, what he said. Do you have a different point of view?
@andj: Yes, I would say I have the exact opposite point of view. In this state, where 26% of all adults admit to driving drunk and DUI incidents kill a person more than every other day and injure 10 a day (resulting in 45% of all fatal crashes), where drunk drivers aren't truly punished until, basically, they kill or injure somebody (and even THEN), it's pretty cavalier to say "We're only serious about making people pay for it." The only ones that seriously "pay for it" are the ones that get hit.
If you drive after drinking you're not "getting screwed" if you get caught.
In Ontario, they can suspend/impound between BAC 0.05 and 0.08. Fortunately I don't drive.
@Abe Totally agree, but then again, in Brian's view, "no one is innocent in Los Angeles" so haha, let's all move to NYC so we can drink and take trains and not worry about people who get murdered by those who drink and drive.
I'm actually mildly comforted by the thought of all those D-Listers playing Demolition Derby on Wilshire late on Friday nights. BOOM! CRASH! Another Bravo TV pilot sinks.
Haha! Yeah! And fuck the innocent people driving to or from work that they happen to crash into and murder with their G500s! You shouldn't have been sharing the street, er, I mean set with one of those awful reality show stars who deserve to die!
No one is innocent in Los Angeles.
I thought she looked REAL PRETTY at her hearing though. Didn't quite catch the scandal with her nail polish as I over-my-shouldered the Today Show.
They're saying she has an unladylike message written on her middle finger nail which suggests something the judge could do to herself.
Even I drove drunk when I lived in LA, and prior to living there I NEVER drove drunk, and would go off on friends who did.
But there are really very few other options other than hiding in your apartment at night.
I'm NOT proud of it at all.
…you live in a car city, it's going to happen. it's inevitable. especially in smaller cities where cab service is s.l.o.w., unreliable, bus service is terrible or nonexistent… what are you supposed to do? oh yeah, stay at home and drink by your lonesome.
I moved to NYC (I grew up about 2 miles away in Jersey) in no small part because I was not proud of some of the driving choices I made. I knew I wanted to go out, I knew I wanted to eat and drink within reason, and I knew that the type of friends I'd have would be drinking freely around me. I did what was best and set myself up so that I never needed to operate a motor vehicle after those nights out. I feel bad for all the people I left behind who still do that on a night-to-night basis. I just couldn't do that anymore.
That is definitely something I appreciate about NYC. I don't think twice about drinking these days. There were far too many times back in Detroit when I had to rely on the force to get me home. The only time we used a designated driver was when going to Canada and that was more about crossing the border than drunk driving. The irony is that I drink far less now than I did back then.
I realize this sounds idiotic, but: go out and don't drink?
I don't think I could handle Hollywood sober.
When I do go out either someone else drives or I wait and have a nightcap at home.