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Should states' anti-drunk driving campaign shift to civil side of the courthouse?

More on the question of whether criminal law enforcement is the best way to reduce drunk driving:The missus just read yesterday's post describing the legal blawgger debate over whether DWI should be criminalized, coming up with what I thought was a clever solution. She thinks the legal tactics to reduce DWI should shift from the criminal to the civil side of the courthouse, using civil litigation to promote and finance anti-drunk driving strategies.The massive TV ad campaigns that helped drive public opinion so heavily against smoking in the last decade, she pointed out, were financed with billions in civil judgments won by the states in compensation for indigent medical costs. The same could happen with liquor, she suggested.Under this scheme, states or the courts could allow lawsuits to go forward against alcohol manufacturers just like they did against Big Tobacco...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on June 29, 2008 (boomark / email).