One of the nation’s top DUI defense lawyers, William C. Head, has just written an article that chronicles the history of drunk driving laws; and describes what aggressive drunk driving defense lawyers have done in response to these laws. This article is entitled The Mobilization of the DUI-DWI Criminal Defense Bar to Help Citizens Fight Impaired Driving Charges and can be viewed in its entirety on the AVVO web site.
In this article Mr. Head talks about how much influence MADD has had on the formation of these DUI laws, and how the current style of DUI laws and the modern day prosecution of these DUI laws started in 1979 – 1983 under President Reagan.
One of the first things MADD wanted was a .10 law. Prior to that time the legal limit was .15. Currently, all states have a uniform .08 legal limit. The .08 law was championed by Hillary Clinton.
In response to these tougher more uniform laws the defense bar began to become organized. According to Mr. Head:
In 1983, a multi-city, national tour was organized by the late Richard Erwin, the late Reese Joye, Lawrence Taylor, Richard Essen, John Tarantino and Donald Nichols (to name a few) in order to share their knowledge of how to defend drunken driving cases in this exploding new segment of criminal defense law. Before the Internet made communications instantaneous, efforts included phone calls, facsimile messages and “snail mail” to each other. Don Nichols started a monthly newsletter, followed by another newsletter launched by John Tarantino. About half dozen new treatises were written between 1980 and 1987, followed by even more books (including the author’s) in 1991. Seminars were launched to spread the word & train more criminal defense lawyers.
Later, the College for DUI Defense was formed, and continues to be the preeminent training ground for defense attorneys wishing to become the absolute best at defending citizens wrongfully accused of drunk driving.
Here is a brief introductory video by Mr. Head talking about the importance of this kind of advanced training:
If you’ve been charged with DUI in Michigan, call me today for your FREE case evaluation.
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