Face-off over DWI policy

District Attorney Kathleen Rice's needs to resign from office she is a power hungry women trying to make a name for herself.FIRST She should Stop having to go on tv. for once!!! Its either her way or go to trial. She will and is, costing Nassau tax payers millions in court time and not being prepared. AND she KNOWS she can not WIN in all of the cases in court!In DWI cases and Dv cases.A family friend got jammed up on a DV case and the DA or ada did not have time to reveiw the case after months going to court. COSTING EVERYONE MONEY AND TIME! I HOPE SHE LOSES THIS LAW SUIT AND I HOPE SHE NEVER EVER EVER GETS RELECTED A 2ND TERM IT WILL BE THE FIRST TIME I WOULD VOTE AND TO VOTE HER OUT!!!!!!!!! ALL OF THE DEFENSE LAWYERS SHOULD BAN TOGETHER AND HAVE A CLASS ACTION SUIT!!!

People are reluctant to change, that is human nature.
Get used to change: Nassau County can not afford the cost of giving free passes to drivers who do not understand the consequences of their actions. If you drink and then drive, you are breaking the law.
Drunk drivers are not the victims here....
read the news: Children in car seats, a beloved retired priest out for his evening walk: here are our victims
Drunk drivers that drive onto the highway in the wrong direction, speeding into unsuspecting oncoming traffic? Nope, not the victim.
The little girl and driver killed on the way home from a family wedding? That's right, these are the victims.
Come on Nassau County, must you wait until the victimization hits closer to home than what we have already experienced in our community?
I, for one, do not want to learn of another crime which could have been prevented through law enforcement and social change.
Wake up, Nassau County: drinking and then driving is a thing of the past!
Kathleen Rice is making tough calls to protect Nassau County!
Change is hard, but this change is for the better.
Get Real: Wanna drink? Call a taxi.

All for DAs Wakeup Call wrote:

People are reluctant to change, that is human nature.
Get used to change: Nassau County can not afford the cost of giving free passes to drivers who do not understand the consequences of their actions. If you drink and then drive, you are breaking the law.
Drunk drivers are not the victims here....
read the news: Children in car seats, a beloved retired priest out for his evening walk: here are our victims
Drunk drivers that drive onto the highway in the wrong direction, speeding into unsuspecting oncoming traffic? Nope, not the victim.
The little girl and driver killed on the way home from a family wedding? That's right, these are the victims.
Come on Nassau County, must you wait until the victimization hits closer to home than what we have already experienced in our community?
I, for one, do not want to learn of another crime which could have been prevented through law enforcement and social change.
Wake up, Nassau County: drinking and then driving is a thing of the past!
Kathleen Rice is making tough calls to protect Nassau County!
Change is hard, but this change is for the better.
Get Real: Wanna drink? Call a taxi.

I agree with every of your statements. My son, who is now 9 years old, lost his dad, Dennis Sullivan, to a drunk driver one week before his 6th birthday in 2003. I'm bothered, horrified, by the attitude of some who believe that the drunk driver is being victimized. The woman who killed Dennis had a BAC of .29!! Due to "technicalities" in the case, she was never even charged with his death. Dennis was the victim that night, and his entire family will forever be the vicitms of the crime that was commited..not the drunk driver.

Drunk drivers should be shot. Time to grow up and take responsiblity. French excuse monkeys.

While I agree that the penalties should be strict for drunk driving if the person admits they have a problem they should get the help they need. Under nassau county's step program admitted alcholics are refered to programs with no supervision and limited skills. How would you feel if you were attending a program where the abuse consuler had limited experience, did'nt know what AA was and told the group about her having some really good champagne this past weekend.

I do not think there is disagreement that DWI offenders should be punished, however, the approach Rice is taking is the wrong one. The penalties are totally objective and the AA couselors are not experienced and do not seem to care about the real problem. What happens when someone gets convicted of DWI in Nassau county you may ask? A big part of the punishment is going to counseling and learning about DRUGS. How to use them, the effects, and side effects. This makes sense because? well, im not sure. Maybe it is the reason that people who may have had an alcohol problem come out of AA with a substance abuse problem.
The subjectivity of our legal system is its greatest asset, and offenders must be looked at as individuals.
Someone who barely drinks and committs the offense does not belong in AA couseling twice a week where they are subject to urine tests (b/c alcohol is illegal?), drug education, and the crtiticism of individuals who know nothing except the procedures written before them.
Putting someone who does not have a problem, especially after the trauma of an arrest, in AA with drug and alcohol addicts only has a detrimental effect, and the problem is Kathleen Rice's policies take discretion away from the people who are on the front lines.
Not everybody should be treated the same, and the same rehab, counseling, punishments, etc.. does not have the same / desired effect on different individuals.
In reality all that is accomplished is creating a large inconvenience for a lot of good people who made a mistake.

It's one thing if you are drinking and driving and you are all over the road. When cops start pulling people over for no reason, and they have had only a few drinks, and they get arrested, and pay thousands in fines, evaluations, DWI classes. This is ridiculous and ruins a clean record.

And what good does the law do when if you have a PBA card/are a cop/ are a good looking girl etc. the cop will let you go anyway. Ridiculous.

Driving in the wrong direction is one thing. These people should be severely punished. But, if you have 2 drinks now and you get pulled over....you're in jail!!

This is a big plot to make money!!

At this rate they should just close all bars/clubs/etc. and ban drinking. This is crazy.

i do not condone drinking and driving, but it is true the law is changing our lives and making living a bit difficult.now instead of planning to have a good time after a week of hard work. you're either staying home or plan on paying cab fare of over thats gonna be pretty high if you live in NY area going out to LI.
you are probably going to see less fatalities but you are definatley going to see a bit more of a miserable society.
i think next they are going to target the morning drivers who put on make up while driving or the people eating while driving, talking on cell etc...

overall i think the consequences of having 2 drinks and not driving erratic and being pulled over from a nightclub parking lot and being arrested and pay through your lifes earnings in fines and lawyer fees and counseling is a bit overwhelming. now i stay home like a hermit. maybe thats the cause of obesity? he he.
anyway good luck all drive safely

I'll drink to that!

next wrote:

i do not condone drinking and driving, but it is true the law is changing our lives and making living a bit difficult.now instead of planning to have a good time after a week of hard work. you're either staying home or plan on paying cab fare of over thats gonna be pretty high if you live in NY area going out to LI.
you are probably going to see less fatalities but you are definatley going to see a bit more of a miserable society.

If you need alcohol to make your life less miserable, perhaps you have a problem?

Just an observation, it seems anyone hurt by a drunken driver on Long Island wants the other family to fry, and sues for all of their assets. Unless the drunken driver is a member of their own family, in which case the DD was innocent, framed, a scapegoat, or "just turning his/her life around..."

The problem with charging drunk drivers with murder are these

1. How can you justify not charging a speeder, someone who ran a stop sign or red light or fell asleep at the wheel with murder? The speeder or reckless driver made a decision to speed or drive recklessly when they killed someone. They are just as culpable as the drunk driver. But how many are charged with murder? I bet none. Where is Mothers Against Reckless Drivers.

2. Is this DA also charging drunk drivers with attempted murder if they are caught at a check point?(She used the analogy that DUI is the same as aiming a gun and shooting someone.) They chose to drink and drive they just missed their target, when they aimed the gun.

As much as DUI should be punished murder charges are not the answer.

LIReason wrote:

It's one thing if you are drinking and driving and you are all over the road. When cops start pulling people over for no reason, and they have had only a few drinks, and they get arrested, and pay thousands in fines, evaluations, DWI classes. This is ridiculous and ruins a clean record.
And what good does the law do when if you have a PBA card/are a cop/ are a good looking girl etc. the cop will let you go anyway. Ridiculous.

What you say is certainly ignorant. A PBA card you must be kidding or just a fool. The drinking offense starts with who the person is with and if alone the bar should be held responsible or restaurant period. But to beleive for one minute that because you are some good looking drunk babe you are driving away forget it pal. Try stepping into the real world and eyes open wide!

Biggest problem is Topix will allow anyone to use their site for a story. See the big picture here is how many hits can we get. Who cares about truth?? Topix certainly does not and someone needs to sue sites like this that allow others to slander another just for the sake of making money. Topix is as bad as the bartender who serves the drunk and allows them to drive away!

kathleen rice is a power hungry,egotistical bitch. i don't believe in drinking and driving but to entrap people and to lump all people (meaning those on medication) into a category of "drunken drivers" and publish their names and picutres on a wall of shame is absolutely despicable. i have lived on long island for 20 years and i hate it. people drive like maniacs even when they have not been drinking. where are the police! there is no mass transportation so if people want to drink (as i'm sure those in the da's office and certainly the police like to do) how do you get home? long island needs to wake upn from its dream of being a suburban paradise and start providing necessary mass transportation services so that people have an alternative to having to drive everywhere. what does one do when one's license is suspended? you can't get to a probation appointment or a job or court by public transportation. and then you are in trouble. a decent mass transportation system would help. but the suburbanite mentality rules on li so i doubt this will happen.