The 2nd Edition of the Hardcore Drunk Driving Judicial Guide

Drunk driving cases are among the most complex to adjudicate. The risk of recidivism is high, especially among repeat offenders. The Hardcore Drunk Driving Judicial Guide is a resource for judges, judicial educators and other practitioners in the criminal justice field. Judges have a very important role in reducing drunk driving recidivism through comprehensive sentencing strategies outlined in our newly released Hardcore Drunk Driving Judicial Guide.

This second edition of The Hardcore Drunk Driving Judicial Guide has been expanded to include programs, emerging issues and practices such as the traffic safety resource prosecutor program, the judicial outreach liaison program, continuous transdermal alcohol testing, proliferation of alcohol ignition interlocks both in the car and for use in offender’s homes, no refusal programs, and 24/7 sobriety programs, to name a few. All of these issues are addressed in this new edition of The Hardcore Drunk Driving Judicial Guide and will appear in the pages that follow.

This guide outlines the challenges judges face in adjudicating drunk driving cases, effective strategies they can use and emerging practices that have shown results.  The Hardcore Drunk Driving Judicial Guide, in its entirety, is accessible through this website and can be downloaded as a pdf document.

The Guide also includes a Roadmap to Changed Behavior which displays a combination of effective strategies in a user friendly format that judges can use at the bench to aid in comprehensive sentencing efforts.

The Guide can be used as a whole or broken down into sections that are pertinent to each judge’s needs. The Table of Contents on the right hand side of each page will take you to the sections of the Guide; simply click on the name of the section you would like to read.

• The Problem of Hardcore Drunk Driving section is an overview of the issue.
• The Role of the Judiciary focuses on the judiciary’s impact and the critical need for offender risks and needs assessments as a guide for sentencing.
• Challenges and Obstacles Faced by Judges discusses the issues that impede DWI cases.
• Effective Strategies explains the judicial options for the various stages of the offender’s case, from pre-trial to rehabilitation.
• The Emerging Practices section highlights new program efforts from across the country.
• The Need for an Ethical, Multi-Disciplinary Stakeholder Approach explains how to develop an ethically appropriate combined approach with other stakeholders.

The entirety of the Hardcore Drunk Driving Judicial Guide is available online, or as a PDF.