Andrew Thomas, the Republican Maricopa County Attorney in Arizona has launched a campaign to shame people convicted of DUI offenses.
Now I'm all for there being laws protecting us from drivers abusing alcohol but apparently this "gentleman" has now decided that he is entitled to go beyond the penalties assigned by the legislature and can add on public humiliation while he receives a little free campaign marketing.
This Arizona Republic article gives the details of Thomas' program. Here's an excerpt:
This new campaign, which includes the Web site, billboards and public-service announcements on television and radio, will cost about $750,000.
Most of the money comes from assets seized from criminals in other crimes. The rest comes from the state's DUI Abatement Fund.
"We need to try new and innovative ways to tackle (DUI)," Thomas said.
Most of the information on convictions comes from the municipal courts where the DUI cases are usually decided.To date, Gilbert, Glendale, Peoria, Scottsdale and Tempe forward information from DUI convictions to the County Attorney's Office for inclusion on the Web site.
Phoenix does not. A spokesman for City Attorney Gary Verburg said it was decided a year ago that the city did not have the resources to send information from the nearly 7,000 DUI convictions it processes each year.
The city is now reconsidering its position.
Now for those of you unfamiliar with Andrew Thomas, a little background. Thomas is a Republican bulldog who has aligned himself with and obviously learned the fine art of self-promotion from the Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio. I recently posted a diary about the abuses these two recently concocted against the New Times, a weekly publication in the Phoenix valley.
Thomas seems to continually flaunt the power of his office using bullying tactics against political opponents as illustrated in this article found at JonGarrido.com that details how he is using a bogus investigation into the state Attorney General who just so happens to be his primary opponent in his quest to be governor.
Putting DUI offenders on billboards just seems odd to me unless that humiliation is in lieu of the typical punishment. I'm just not sure that a prosecutor can decide on his own to publicly shame offenders when they already have been punished as the law requires. It seems others including the ACLU not only agree with that assessment I've come to but also there are experts that seem to believe it has no deterrent effect.
Found in the Arizona Republic article:
Not everybody agrees that shame, or the threat of shame, is a good idea to encourage better behavior.
Dan Markel, a criminal-law professor at Florida State University College of Law, thinks the tactic reflects poorly on society.
"The very goal of shaming," Markel wrote in the New Republic, "is the dehumanization of another person before, and with the participation of, the public. Before we permit democratic institutions to subject an offender to ridicule, scorn and humiliation, we have to ask whether this kind of punishment comports with evolving standards of decency and the dignity of humankind. The answer is clearly no."
In an interview, Markel also questioned whether the campaign will make a person less likely to drive drunk.
"The problem is that when people drink, they are probably not in the mode of thinking about what the possible punishment is," Markel said. "And if they did, then they probably wouldn't be driving."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona is concerned that posting people's names and mug shots will serve as additional punishment. It also questions how effective the deterrent will be.
"It is not going to make the roads safer," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the local ACLU. "Shame will not stop these people. We are talking about addictions."
Now I'm not so sure that there aren't crimes where public humiliation might not be an effective response and penalty but, if it is to be used, it should be part of the rule of law and not administered for political gain. It seems obvious to me that Andrew Thomas has only his own fortune in mind when he creates Arpaio-like stunts like this as illustrated by his name plastered in huge letters across the bottom.
The true test will be when some Republican Arizona legislator gets convicted of DUI. Somehow I have the feeling that shot won't show up on the billboard or that will be the last day this charade goes on.