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MADD endorses deferred adjudication for first-offense DWI

I'm incredibly pleased to see Mothers Against Drunk Driving backing off some of its more draconian policies in recent months. First they declared they wouldn't oppose abolition of Texas' Orwellian-named "Driver Responsibility" surcharge, and now Paul Kennedy points to an Austin Statesman article in which MADD endorsed allowing deferred adjudication for drunk driving offenses, in part to boost conviction rates and to avoid having DWI cases plead down to non-alcohol-related offenses. MADD's position is especially surprising since they were the primary champion of eliminating deferred for DWIs in the first place.Smith's bill strikes me as a much better solution to the problem than Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo's DWI-Lite suggestion. Here's a notable excerpt from the Statesman story in which even Williamson County DA John Bradley endorsed reinstating deferred adjudication for first-time DWIs, which was eliminated as a sentencing option by the Lege some years ago in a fit of overzealous pique:Supporters say the plan could ease court backlogs by routing cases out of courtrooms, give prosecutors a new negotiating tool and remove the threat of jail that makes some first-timers refuse guilty pleas in DWI cases...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on December 28, 2010 (boomark / email).