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”
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.