DUI case illustrates weakness in the law

The alleged drunk driver who crashed through a fence and nearly hit three children at Horine Park on June 11 pleaded not guilty to DUI and reckless endangerment charges in Flathead County District Court recently.

Debbie Rae Paszek, who has a long history of drunk driving offenses, is facing her sixth DUI charge but was driving with a valid license at the time of her most recent arrest.

While some may question how Paszek was able to obtain a valid license after five DUI convictions, the simple answer is that it is not that uncommon of an occurrence in Montana.

According to Frank Harris, the National Director of State Government Affairs for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, little is being done in Montana to keep repeat DUI offenders off our roads.

“Montana is one of the weakest states when it comes to DUI law. Once people serve their license suspensions, they can easily get their license again,” he said. “That’s the short answer, but the bottom line is that license suspension alone doesn’t stop anybody from driving drunk anyway.”

While Montana law does carry an automatic six-month driver’s license suspension for first-time offenders upon conviction and a one-year suspension for all subsequent DUI convictions, those suspensions do not stack up. For instance, in 2007, Paszek pleaded guilty to DUI and negligent vehicular assault. As it was her second DUI conviction, her license was suspended for one year. Negligent vehicular assault carries an automatic license revocation period of one year. While her license was both suspended for a year and also revoked for a year, she would have been eligible for reinstatement after 12 months, not 24.

Drivers with suspended licenses have their driving privileges automatically restored after the suspension period has ended while revoked drivers can easily obtain a new license at the end of the revocation period by paying a reinstatement fee and passing the driver’s test.

According to Nanette Gilbertson, who serves as the Executive Director of both the Montana County Attorneys and Sheriffs and Peace Officers Associations, keeping repeat DUI offenders off Montana’s roads and highways has been an ongoing struggle.

“Just suspending a license is not really a penalty and another thing to keep in mind is that there’s a lot of people who get their license suspended or revoked and they just drive without a license,” she said. “Because our DUI laws in this state don’t make a lot of sense right now, I think that is what opens this door where we see a lot of things happen that, in hindsight, we think should not have happened.”

Even those who have had their license suspended after a DUI can sometimes be back on the road legally. Montana judges are allowed to issue restricted probationary driver licenses, which allows offenders to drive to work or school, required chemical dependency program or a location reasonably related to maintenance of the household.

So, what is Montana doing to keep drunk drivers off its roads? The state has been taking part in a 24/7 monitoring program, which requires offenders to either submit themselves for sobriety testing twice a day or wear an ankle bracelet which monitors alcohol intake, but Harris says that is not enough.

“The problem is the 24/7 program really does nothing to stop someone from driving drunk,” Harris said. “MADD does support 24/7, but only if it is in addition to using ignition interlock devices.”

Ignition interlock devices are designed to keep drivers from starting their vehicle while intoxicated, but that system also has its flaws. According to Gilbertson, the systems are expensive and the cost must be paid by the offender, which some argue presents offenders with an unfair financial burden. For this reason, some judges are hesitant to make the devices a part of their sentencing.

“It’s true that the sentencing of felony DUI offenders usually requires them to have some sort of interlock device installed on their vehicle, but is there consistent enforcement of that, I would say probably not,” Gilbertson said.

While the methods for keeping drunk drivers off Montana’s roads may be up for debate, both Gilbertson and Harris agree that it is a problem that needs to be addressed.

“If we are going to ensure public safety, at some point you just have to take these drivers off the road. By volume, they are the most dangerous criminals in Montana,” Gilbertson said.

“Unfortunately, you can’t rely on judges to enforce and really implement DUI laws. That is one thing we have really seen in the 39 years of our efforts at MADD,” Harris added. “People need to remember that driving is a privilege, not a right.”