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Texas County Will Use Twitter To Publish Drunk Drivers' Names

Posted by timothy on from the only-animal-that-blushes dept.

alphadogg contributes this snippet from Network World: "If you get busted for drunk driving in Montgomery County, Texas, this holiday season, your neighbors may hear about it on Twitter. That's because the local district attorney's office has decided to publish the names of those charged with driving while intoxicated between Christmas and New Year's Eve. County Vehicular Crimes Prosecutor Warren Diepraam came up with the idea as a way of discouraging residents from getting behind the wheel while drunk. 'It's not a magic bullet that's going to end DWIs, but it's something to make people think twice before they get behind the wheel of a car and drive while they're intoxicated,' he said."

5 of 301 comments (clear)

  1. "Innocent until proven guilty" by seifried · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I guess it's gone out of fashion. Sad.

  2. What? No Due Process? by hedgemage · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I checked the article to be sure, and yep, it says that those CHARGED will have their names published on Twitter. So, even if you are found not guilty, you are going to be publicly named as a DUI offender before you even get a chance to clear your name.
    I'm not trying to excuse drunk drivers, but for some reason, its seen as ok to make those charged or convicted of DUIs out to be the scum of the earth, wantonly careening down the roadways, seeking out innocents to mow down, when in fact most people who get DUIs are just ordinary joes who made a bad decision while not in the best state of mind.
    The idea that it is somehow ok to humiliate people who are supposedly INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY seems like a prelude to a morality police state.

  3. How to avoid this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Change your name to something longer than 140 characters.

  4. Good idea by 91degrees · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because we all check twitter feeds containing nothing but hundreds of random names on the off-chance that someone we know has been drink driving.

  5. Re:Oh. by Suki+I · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And how will they compensate anyone wrongfully put on that feed for the damage to their reputation? The Court of Public Opinion can be brutal about these things, especially when they work in HR somewhere..

    They typically ignore their own mistakes and make others pay for them.

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    Home of The Suki Series