Free Republic

One man endured a night in jail and a criminal case hanging over his head for year, only to have prosecutors say they don’t think he was even guilty of a crime... A voluntary breath test showed he hadn't had too much to drink. He blew a 0.00 on the breath test. "I told them I would take a blood sample as well, just to prove that I didn't have anything in my system," Davis said. That test looked for seven types of drugs in his system, and Davis tested negative for all of them.

Next time you and your friends are our for a pint, maybe hold off on the dark stout. As tempting as it might be in this wintry weather, scientists have recently released a study suggesting that stout beer, Guinness in particular, might make you bitter. The study links tart and bitter tastes with, you guessed it, a tart and bitter mind. When consumed in “delicate situations,” bitter drinks might lead people to “voicing thoughts they’ll later regret.” The study asked people to rate certain scenarios on how morally questionable they were. Those with bitter drinks were much harsher on the...

I understand the arguments for the legalization of marijuana: It can generate tax revenue. It can reduce illegal supply and demand. It can strip power from cartels and lessen crime across and at our borders. And it isn't so dangerous as other illegal drugs or alcohol. President Barack Obama even claimed one of those arguments when he recently told New Yorker Editor David Remnick, "As has been well-documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through...

At least 38 million U.S. adults drink too much, and most of them are not alcoholics, according to a new “Vital Signs” report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “For every one person who is alcoholic there are about six who are problem drinkers, drinking enough to adversely affect their lives, their health, their work situation or family situation,” CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said. Three-quarters of Americans who drink too much are considered “binge drinkers.” This includes men who consume more than four alcoholic drinks in one setting and women who consume more than three. But...

Dozens of Muslim protestors gathered to demand that businesses stop selling alcohol in a popular East London area yesterday. The group, led by former Al-Muhajiroun leader Anjem Choudary, warned restaurants and shops in the Brick Lane area that they face 40 lashes if they continue to sell the product, which is banned under Sharia Law. Around 60 men and women in burkhas handed over warning letters to Muslim-owned businesses in the area after the protest was initially delayed by a small number of English Defence League members staging a counter-protest. Controversial cleric Choudary was at the forefront of the protest....

A Texas jury was recently lambasted in open court for committing jury nullification by visiting judge Jerry Ray because they acquitted a defendant in a driving while intoxicated (DWI) case. Judge Ray went so far as to equate the jury’s verdict with the acquittal of O.J. Simpson. Unfortunately, like many judges, Judge Ray did not understand what jury nullification is, what juries do, or his own obligations as a judge. Jury nullification occurs when a criminal jury votes not guilty, in spite of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt, because they believe the law is either unjust or is being...

Some drivers along a busy Fort Worth street on Friday were stopped at police roadblock and directed into a parking lot, where they were asked by federal contractors for samples of their breath, saliva and even blood. It was part of a government research study aimed at determining the number of drunken or drug-impaired drivers. "It just doesn't seem right that you can be forced off the road when you're not doing anything wrong," said Kim Cope, who said she was on her lunch break when she was forced to pull over at the roadblock on Beach Street in North...

A chemistry teacher in northwest Indiana has been fired and criminally charged because he allegedly ferried a group of students to a strip club and gave them beer and hard liquor inside his home. The sacked teacher, Travis Lechien, had taught for a decade at Hanover Central High School in the exurbs of Chicago, reports local NBC affiliate WMAQ. He was also a volleyball coach and a sponsor of many after-school activities. Lechien, 32, had been suspended without pay since Sept. 10 before he was fired. Previously, the school board had refused to accept his attempt to resign. “We take...

Boston cops crack down on after-hours parties Saturday, July 6, 2013PrintEmail Comments (9) By: O’Ryan Johnson Boston police are using social media, as well as old-fashioned walking beats, to find huge after-hours parties before they happen in an effort to tamp down summer violence. “It’s about trying to be proactive,” said Bureau of Field Services Superintendent William Evans. “If we find out about a party, we’re going to visit that house ahead of time. If they have a DJ, they need an entertainment license. If they’re going to serve alcohol, they need a liquor license.”Evans said police are spotting upcoming parties...

TUCUMCARI – A Tucumcari man’s five-year effort to be exonerated of charges for having an open container of O’Doul’s non-alcoholic beer in his car ran into a procedural hurdle Tuesday in 10th District Court. Judge Albert Mitchell threw out Gary Southern’s motion to have his conviction for having an open container of an alcoholic beverage in his car set aside because it was based on a writ of coram nobis, a procedural device that has been abolished in New Mexico courts. Mitchell then advised Southern that he had two options: He could appeal Mitchell’s decision of Tuesday or file a...

As preposterous as it may seem, illegal immigrants with drunk-driving, domestic violence, aggravated assault and child abuse convictions will qualify for amnesty under the immigration bill pending in the U.S. Senate unless an amendment introduced by a Texas lawmaker is adopted. Incredibly, groups that would normally be vocal on these sorts of issues have remained silent. For instance, the nation’s largest organization working to stop drunk driving and support victims of the violent crime—Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)—refuses to criticize the proposed law even though it will essentially reward those convicted of driving dunk. Through a spokeswoman, MADD said it...

An Ohio man was charged with DUI after her was pulled over by the police, despite the fact that a breathalyzer test showed he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.000. 64-year-old Jessie Thornton who now lives in Surprise, Arizona said cops told him that they could tell he was drunk simply by looking at him. -snip- Surprise Police Department paperwork shows Thornton was 'pulled over for crossing the white line in his lane.' 'An officer walked up and he said ‘I can tell you’re driving DUI by looking in your eyes.’ I take my glasses off and he says, ‘You’ve...

In an effort to cut down on the number of alcohol related accidents, the National Transportation Safety Board wants to lower the legal limit for driving from a 0.08 to 0.05 blood alcohol content in all states. That doesn't mean post-dinner-out driving standards will be more exacting anytime soon, though — indeed, the fight is just now underway, and from some of the most unlikely of people. ~snip~ Of course, the NTSB can't order the state or federal governments to do anything. They can only make recommendations about that one fewer beer. In fact, the recommendation to lower the legal...

ames Eades of Augusta is charged with obstruction of a police officer, stemming from an incident during Operation Thunder, but he says there is much more to the story than that. Eades says that he and a friend were driving down Alexander Drive early Friday morning when they came to an Operation Thunder Checkpoint on River Watch Parkway. What happened during that stop lead to Eades getting arrested... and he says it's all because he didn't roll down his window all the way "We saw what appeared to be an accident scene. A couple of police cars with blue lights,...

Looking to cut back on the calories in your cocktail by mixing, say, diet soda and rum? Well, get ready for the buzz. According to the results of a new study, this combination will leave you drunker than if you'd mixed the liquor with a sugary, caloric mixer. "Alcohol, consumed with a diet mixer, results in higher (BrAC) Breath Alcohol Concentrations as compared to the same amount of alcohol consumed with a sugar-sweetened mixer," says Cecile Marczinski, a cognitive psychologist who authored the new study. Why? Turns out that sugar slows down the absorption of alcohol from the stomach to...

GPs are to be forced to hand over confidential records on all their patients’ drinking habits, waist sizes and illnesses. The files will be stored in a giant information bank that privacy campaigners say represents the ‘biggest data grab in NHS history’. They warned the move would end patient confidentiality and hand personal information to third parties.

Faced with the high cost of caring for smokers and overeaters, experts say society must grapple with a blunt question: Instead of trying to penalize them and change their ways, why not just let these health sinners die? Annual health care costs are roughly $96 billion for smokers and $147 billion for the obese, the government says. These costs accompany sometimes heroic attempts to prolong lives, including surgery, chemotherapy and other measures. But despite these rescue attempts, smokers tend to die 10 years earlier on average, and the obese die five to 12 years prematurely, according to various researchers’ estimates....

Harris County law enforcement agencies will again crack down on drunken drivers during Christmas and New Year's, but the expanded operations no will longer be limited to holiday weekends. The "no refusal" initiative — a countywide program that expedites search warrants for blood samples from drunken driving suspects who refuse breath tests — now will be in effect every weekend for the next three years due in large part to a grant recently issued by the Texas Department of Transportation to the Harris County District Attorney's Office. The initiative, which also includes funds from the District Attorney's Office, will total...

On Feb. 11, 2006, in Iraq, I was honored to meet a model Marine by the name of Cpl. David Stidman. He did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Commendably, he also left his post to come home and care for his ailing father, Dwayne Stidman, who tragically was hit and critically wounded by a drunken driver last May.Three months later, on Aug. 2, 2010, Cpl. Stidman was killed. Not on the battlefields of the Middle East, but on his home streets of Texas while still caring for his father and family. And not by a drive-by shooter,...