In Illinois, most drunken drivers get away without a conviction on their
first offense.
An overwhelming majority of those found guilty of driving under the
influence for the first time are given a legal remedy called court
supervision.
In 1998, the most recent year for which figures are available, 71 percent of
DUI cases resulted in supervisions. In 1997, 62 percent ended in
supervisions. In 1996, 71 percent resulted in supervisions, according to the
secretary of state's office.
Supervision works like this:
- A driver accused of DUI is allowed to bypass a trial in exchange for a finding of guilt. The driver is placed on supervision for a period set by the judge during which the driver is expected to obey traffic laws.
- The provisions of the supervision can vary widely. Judges can order the driver to complete programs including substance abuse counseling or community service, or judges can simply expect the driver to obey traffic laws.
- If the driver does not commit another offense during the supervision, his or her public driving record will carry no mention of a DUI.
- First-time DUI offenders' licenses are suspended for three months but are automatically reinstated once drivers pay a reinstatement fee. A DUI conviction, on the other hand, would spur a license revocation and a driver would have to make a case for having his or her driving privileges returned.
Experts say court supervision typically is granted to first offenders unless the DUI offender caused a serious crash involving injury or death.
That supervision is suppressed from public records made available to
insurance companies and others, making it difficult for the public to
definitively gauge a person's DUI record.
The supervision does remain on internal driving records used within the
legal system, Illinois secretary of state officials said.
Since 1997, Illinois law has mandated that drivers may receive one
supervision for driving under the influence in their lifetimes.
Patrick McGann, supervising judge of the Chicago Traffic Center, said
supervision is not the proverbial wrist slap. His supervision periods last
at least a year, sometimes two. First offenders must pay a series of fines
and fees, including a monthly $25 charge for their probation monitoring. And
they must attend an alcohol treatment program.
But Brad Fralick, the Illinois executive director of Mothers Against Drunk
Driving, said the provisions of supervision aren't handled uniformly
throughout county courts in Illinois. "Downstate, supervision is a joke," he
said.
But Stephen M. Komie, a DUI defense lawyer and former police officer, called
DUI supervision "a very, very necessary system."
Without it, he said, courts would be clogged. Supervision, he said, also
allows first-time offenders to "learn from their mistakes and gives them a
remedial education" about drinking and driving.
Still, Charlene Chapman, executive director of the Schaumburg-based Alliance
Against Intoxicated Motorists, said she would like to see the practice of
granting court supervision to first-time of-fenders brought to a halt.
"The judges are in a position to say that the first one does not count, so
if the law says you lose your license forever after four DUI convictions we
are really talking about five," Chapman said.
"There is no reason to allow a
person to have that many chances to kill other people."
