Whiskey Plates on a Hummer

Seeing “whiskey plates” on a Hummer got me thinking.

Damned SUV driver, driving the biggest, baddest, most in-your-face vehicle on the road and doing so drunk.  How irresponsible.  How . . . it just makes me mad.

But, really, I don’t know that the owner of the Hummer did anything wrong to “earn” the “whiskey plates.”

Presumed Guilty

The State starts punishing drivers arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) the instant they are pulled over, before a judge determines that probable cause existed for the arrest, before any Complaint is sworn, and, certainly, before the driver has been found guilty.

When a cop arrests someone for DWI, that person’s driver’s license is revoked more-or-less immediately.  If the cop thinks the alleged offense rises to a certain level of severity, the driver’s license plates are removed and destroyed, too.

To drive from that point on, the driver has to get “whiskey plates” and he or she has to pay to equip any car he or she might drive with an ignition interlock device that disables the vehicle so it won’t start until the driver blows into a tube proving that his or her breath has no alcohol.  This is all for people who are suspected of DWI. They haven’t been convicted yet.  They may never be.

It Gets Worse

Here’s the kicker: winning the DWI case, being found not guilty of DWI, doesn’t undo those consequences.  If it turns out the arrest was a mistake, and the driver is found not to have been driving drunk, after all, he or she still doesn’t get the driver’s license back . . . unless the driver knew to sue the state when the license was revoked.

[box]A brief note about “whiskey plates”:  “Whiskey plates” are simple white plates with black letters and numbers, always beginning with “W.”  At one time, police could pull someone over just for having whiskey plates, but the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that unconstitutional.  Now the plates serve no purpose but public shaming, whether or not the driver even got a DWI![/box]

When a driver’s license to drive is revoked, he or she has 30 days to file a civil lawsuit against the State of Minnesota arguing that the State took that person’s property without cause.  If the driver doesn’t file that lawsuit (a “Petition for Judicial Determination of Driver’s License Revocation”), pay the non-refundable filing fee (about $320.00), properly serve the Commissioner of Public Safety notice of the lawsuit, and more-than-likely hire an attorney to do all of this, then the driver has not preserved the opportunity to get his or her license back even if he or she is acquitted or the charges are dropped.

Acquitted of Wrongdoing: License Revoked

The driver may or may not have committed any driving infraction.  But he or she will have “whiskey plates” proclaiming “Drunk Driver!” when taking the kids to school, going to church, or driving down the highway.  And will have to blow into a plastic tube to start the car and every ten or fifteen minutes thereafter while driving, no matter who else is in the car.

Just today, I got a phone call from a former U.S. soldier who had gotten a DWI / Refusal charge for allegedly refusing to take a breath test.  He wanted to take the test, but a service-related disability prevented him from blowing hard enough for the machine to register.  I had to tell him that even if he wins the criminal “refusal” case, which he should, he will still have an ignition interlock and “whiskey plates” for two years because his attorney didn’t know how to handle a DWI.

If you or anyone you know needs an attorney who knows DWI law, please give me a call for a free consultation.

If you have questions about a situation you are involved in, call me, and I’ll explain it to you.