House Bill 812, sponsored by
James Boles, Jr. (R-District 52, most of Moore County), has been
stuck in limbo for more than a year. Its last known action, according
to online bill tracker Open States, was for reference to the
Committee on Transportation. Did the House quietly drop the bill on
"whiskey plates?"
HB 812 is a proposal for
special license plates to be issued to drivers with DWI offenses. As
of today, only four states have enacted laws authorizing the use of
these whiskey plates, known in popular parlance. If passed (which is
highly unlikely due to the lack of updates), the driver will have to
carry a whiskey plate for seven years from the day his driving
privileges were restored.
The bill was proposed to
make identification of drivers with DWI offenses easier for law
enforcement and the public. However, according to Raleigh-based DWI
lawyer Seth Blum, the proposal harkens back to colonial times where
public shaming was a preferred punishment. There's little gain in
tagging those with DWI history compared with proven systems like
interlock devices.
For Mr. Blum, the current
sanctions in place, such as community service and one-year suspension
of driving privileges, are sufficient. The bill, he writes, "kicks
DWI defendants when they are already down." It's safe to say
that, at some point during the bill's journey to becoming a law, it
may have attracted serious flak from other lawmakers, if not the
public.
Seth Blum is an experienced
DWI attorney in Raleigh, NC. To contact him please call 919-832-7700
or visit www.KurtzandBlum.com.
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