CONCLUSION:  DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE

Every year thousands of our brother and sister Americans are killed and maimed in alcohol related automobile accidents.  The financial costs of these accidents and of other alcohol-related health problems to society cost billions of dollars.  Logically, the remedy is simple, not only do we outlaw the act of drinking and driving, but also, we outlaw alcohol altogether.  Our legislature, however, clearly lacks the courage to pass this logical law. Nevertheless, from both an academic and historical view, such a law would probably be offensive to our respective notions of a human being's inalienable right to freedom of choice.  Accordingly, we are compelled to live in a democratic society where the freedom to drink and drive is balanced against a law which overrides that freedom at the point where the individual becomes intoxicated.

In a true democracy every citizen has a moral responsibility to respect the life, liberty and property of every other citizen.  This ought to be true especially for those among us who choose to drink and drive.  Hopefully, in the future, each of us will give due honor to our fellow citizens and our moral responsibility by choosing not to do so.  A conscious judgment to stay sober when driving is not only good citizenship, but also, a democratic blessing to and from our neighbors.

Our good citizenship and democratic blessings are equally applicable to the exercise of another's freedom of choice to drink and to their invocation of constitutional rights when they are seized by the Government.  Our present Republic's inheritance of the "presumption of innocence" to every citizen accused of any crime must remain paramount amongst our thoughts.  This is especially true for the person charged with DWI because the crime is loosely defined by another's opinion and is one that requires no intent to commit.  In a larger sense, because we as Americans are a fair people, we should always remember the "presumption of innocence" in the DWI case because the person arrested might someday be you.  Accordingly, please use your common sense, remember your constitutional rights and respect those of your neighbor, support your police, don't drink and drive, but if you do, don't drive intoxicated.