Post by Logan on Jan 21, 2016 1:27:45 GMT -6
Senate passes bill stiffening penalties for repeat drunk drivers
The state Senate has passed a bill to increase penalties for repeat drunk driving offenses.
The measure passed the Senate without opposition Wednesday.
It would make all fourth-time drunken driving offenses felonies under Wisconsin law. Currently, a fourth offense committed more than five years after a third is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail; otherwise felony charges don’t kick in until a fifth offense.
The bill eliminates a provision in law that says the penalty is greater for a fourth drunken-driving offense only if it’s committed within five years of a prior offense. It also heightens the severity of fifth and sixth drunk driving offenses, making them a Class G, instead of a Class H, felony.
Continued at host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/senate-passes-bill-stiffening-penalties-for-repeat-drunk-drivers/article_f66eb811-e40a-5cb5-8e83-04ecf0c2904a.html .
The state Senate has passed a bill to increase penalties for repeat drunk driving offenses.
The measure passed the Senate without opposition Wednesday.
It would make all fourth-time drunken driving offenses felonies under Wisconsin law. Currently, a fourth offense committed more than five years after a third is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail; otherwise felony charges don’t kick in until a fifth offense.
The bill eliminates a provision in law that says the penalty is greater for a fourth drunken-driving offense only if it’s committed within five years of a prior offense. It also heightens the severity of fifth and sixth drunk driving offenses, making them a Class G, instead of a Class H, felony.
Continued at host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/senate-passes-bill-stiffening-penalties-for-repeat-drunk-drivers/article_f66eb811-e40a-5cb5-8e83-04ecf0c2904a.html .