A society keeps record of most of the events. The events are recorded in the form of numbers. Births, deaths and marriages are few of the events recorded and kept as statistics for further references to aid decisions for many course of actions. Similarly data and events are recorded in different spheres such as crime and economy. The purpose of criminal statistics is two fold. The first one controls and restricts the individual's actions to prevent from being committed again. The second purpose is to aid the decision makers, usually the legislatures, legal courts to enact reactive as well as proactive laws to reduce the occurrence of such crimes. DUI is a crime and therefore the state maintains records of such occurrences through various agencies such as police departments, department of motor vehicle (DMV). It is estimated that there are seven agencies involved in a DUI case. The record contains details like penalty, jail sentence, license confiscation and any attendance of alcohol program. The record is opened in case of repeat offense and the record remains there always. Based on the record, the punishment for the next offense gets harsher. The record is open to the public and is accessed by individuals, organizations for various purposes. Employers who want to hire may check the criminal record of the individual and therefore the chances of a DUI convict getting employed gets slimmer. Insurance companies also access the record before insuring some one. Some organizations have the policy of not hiring someone with a DUI record. It is possible to have the DUI records cleared in all states except Illinois. The process is called expungement. Lawyers help clearing the records from different agencies. Other than loss of financial opportunities, the psychological trauma of going through a DUI process and the labeling with a DUI record is often great and this has great impact when the individual is a teen. |
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