Influence of DUI list an important topic

TONY DODERO

It’s a phone call that we get every once and awhile, but it’s never a

good one. I got one again recently.

Someone, usually a friend of the paper, gets picked up by local

police on suspicion of drunken driving and wants to know if we could

do them a favor and take them off “the list.”

The list is the Daily Pilot’s weekly tally of people arrested by

the Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police departments on suspicion of

driving under the influence.

By most accounts, the list of names is well-read. And those who

get on the list know it.

Any time I get a call from someone asking me to remove his or her

name, I always say no. I never feel good about it, but the reason is

simple. We don’t take anybody off the list.

Believe me, we’ve had some pretty big names on the list. Names of

politicians, athletes, the rich and the powerful. Some have asked me,

my boss or my predecessors to take them off the list and they have

all been told no.

Let me explain how we get the list in the first place.

Each week, we ask the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa police

departments to supply us with the names and ages of those arrested on

suspicion of driving under the influence, as well as the city they

live in.

The information is public record and we compile it and publish it

each Wednesday along with a disclaimer that those arrested are not

guilty but have only been arrested on suspicion of the crime.

And we have a standing offer to anyone who is found not guilty,

that we will report that story as well.

So why do we publish the information you ask?

Well the reason passed down the editorial ranks of the Daily Pilot

over the years is simple -- deterrence.

Those who created the list felt it was a public service the

newspaper provided and that the potential of being on the list would

deter some from driving drunk, maybe even save a few lives along the

way.

And for a long time, my assumption -- also passed down the

editorial ranks -- was that we published the list at the urging of

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the national organization founded in

1980 by mothers and other parents who have lost loved ones to drunken

drivers.

MADD has lobbied successfully to lower the legal blood-alcohol

limits to .08 in many states and is probably the single biggest foe

of drunk drivers on the national scene.

So this week when I called the good folks at MADD to ask if they

still favor newspapers publishing the names of alleged drunken

drivers, I was surprised to hear the answer.

Paula Birdsong, the executive director of the California chapter

of MADD said that while members of MADD, acting independently, may

indeed urge newspapers to publish such lists, the agency itself does

not ask newspapers to do so.

“It’s not an agency position,” Birdsong said. “It’s not our

practice nor has it been our position. I don’t know the benefit from

doing so. I don’t know that people can be shamed into not drinking

and driving. I don’t know if that’s an effective tool.”

With that in mind, I want to open up the discussion here with

readers.

Do you believe the list is beneficial?

Do you believe it is a good thing for a newspaper to publish?

While it may not be an effective tool for MADD, what about for

communities like Newport-Mesa?

Is it an effective tool here in the battle against drunk driving?

Remember publishing lists is nothing new to newspapers. Some

newspapers publish the lists of arrested johns in drug-prostitution

sweeps. Some newspapers, and the Daily Pilot used to be one of them,

publish lists of restaurants that have been closed by the health

department.

This newspaper has been publishing the DUI list for at least a

decade and a half. It’s a long-standing policy that I believe

shouldn’t be changed at the whim of one editor.

That’s why I want the readers’ help to give us good arguments for

and against the list.

Because of the sensitive nature of this issue, any thoughts you

share with me either by mail, e-mail or telephone will be kept

anonymous.

And before you fire off that message, let’s put a little context

into the debate.

Drunken driving is a serious crime with sometimes-serious

consequences. The whole reason MADD exists is because of the carnage

created by drunken drivers.

I’ll leave you with this testimonial that I pulled off the web

site of the Minnesota chapter of MADD. It was written by parents

about their daughter, who was killed by a drunken driver, and I

believe it really puts the tragedy of drunken driving into

perspective:

“Upon graduation, Angela was filled with excitement about her new

venture: college in Eau Claire [Wis.]. The day before she died, we

spent at Eau Claire for college orientation. I wish you could have

seen the sparkle in her eyes. This was her big day! The next day

changed all of our lives forever.” Angela’s plans were to go out to

dinner Saturday night with a classmate, Lorelei Schultz. They left

the Olive Garden restaurant discussing plans they had for the future

without knowing what lie ahead. As they headed back to Caledonia,

Minn., a man and his wife were coming back from an entire day of

partying; the driver swerved, going 25 miles per hour over the speed

limit, ending Angela’s life forever.

“Officers found two open cans of beer in the car along with drugs

and drug paraphernalia. The driver’s blood alcohol concentration was

0.14. Angela died instantly, along with the driver. Her friend,

Lorelei, died three days later. The man’s wife left the scene with

minor injuries. At the age of 18, our daughter did the right thing;

she was driving on the road sober. The driver of the other vehicle

had a previous DUI and should not have been driving. Our family has

changed greatly since the crash. I do not think a drunk driver

realizes disastrous consequences when they are on the road drunk. Our

daughter, Angela, cannot come home now because of the actions of

another driver. Our surviving daughter, Laura, will not be able to be

maid of honor in her sister’s wedding and vice versa.

“Our son, Kyle, will not be able to spend days at bible school

with Angela. As a mom, I will miss out on all the great hugs, advice

and companionship of a beautiful human being. Angela’s father will

not be able to share any more good times with his daughter either. As

you can see, we now can only live one day at a time and pray that God

is taking good care of our beloved Angela. Angela will be greatly

missed. Her smile is the first thing a person would notice. She

radiated love, joy, enthusiasm for life, and a readiness for

adventure. She did not let life happen to her, she embraced it and

made a difference. Those who knew Angela were enriched by knowing her

and her love. We love you and miss you Angela! Mom, Dad, Laura and

Kyle”