A DUI by itself (I’m not talking about vehicular homicide, for example) is not a criminal offense in my state. I’ll bet it’s not a criminal offense in MOST states. There’s a legal distinction between a violation of a criminal statute and a violation of a motor vehicle code.
“A DUI by itself (I’m not talking about vehicular homicide, for example) is not a criminal offense in my state.”
A first-time DUI is a misdemeanor criminal offense in Georgia, where this case was adjudicated.
>>A DUI by itself (I’m not talking about vehicular homicide, for example) is not a criminal offense in my state. I’ll bet it’s not a criminal offense in MOST states.
You are TERRIBLY mistaken about this. DWI is a criminal offense in ALL states. You can find this out by a very easy google search.
States have different ways of codifying criminal laws. Texas, for example, has a penal code, a code of criminal procedure, and other statutes that intermittently list offenses. Just because something isn’t in the penal code doesn’t mean it isn’t a crime when you violate it. The same is true for other states.
I don’t know what state you are in, but I think if you look closely, you’ll see that your state writes their laws in similar ways. So, an offense in the motor vehicle code may very well be a criminal offense.
When government is involved, there is almost always individuals rights and liberties at play regardless of whether there are criminal offense statutes at issue. Most government sanctions require due process, so there is a right involved. You may not have a constitutional right to drive, but you DO have a right to due process if you are denied certain things. That’s why there is no such thing as a privilege given by the government.