A first-time DUI offender in Tennessee must serve a minimum of 48 hours in jail. However, Rutherford County convicts can opt to serve their jail time at “camp DUI,” more formally known as the “DUI Education Center.” Your stay at this “jail alternative” comes with a cost of around $100 per night. Accommodations include flat-screen
A recent Brentwood Homepage article provides good insight into the current “criminal mentality” of drinking and driving laws. “DUIs in Williamson County: Read and heed” is an interview with Asst. District Attorney Carlin Hess. “Do not drive drunk in Williamson County” is sound advice, as it is in any jurisdiction. However, the combination of the “strict
The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine advances the rights granted by the Constitution by preventing the government from coercing people into giving them up. Recently, in Williamson County Circuit Court, a Nashville attorney argued that the request for a blood sample following a traffic stop of a driver suspected of DUI presented an Unconstitutional Conditions issue on
On October 1, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States heard a California case in which the police stopped a car—and ultimately arrested and charged its occupants for drug crimes—based on an anonymous tip of erratic driving called into dispatch. The California trial court found that the 911 call by a driver complaining of
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the ‘right of the people to keep and bear arms‘ and many states, including Tennessee, have similar provisions is their constitutions. However, an individual’s right to possess and/or carry a firearm is not absolute and is subject to limitations where there is a sufficient governmental
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section VII of the Tennessee Constitution prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures. What is a reasonable search? A search or arrest without a warrant based upon probable cause is unreasonable unless . . . an exception to this rule applies. There are many types of
The Tennessee Court of Appeals has reasoned that the conviction for a DUI may constitute “unprofessional conduct” and result in sanctions for a physician by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners. A Tennessee doctor pled guilty to a DUI in Arkansas and was subsequently placed on probation by the board. In Kleier v. Tennessee Bd.
Anyone who’s passed a driver’s test or watched the news knows that it’s illegal to operate a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. A lesser-known fact, however, is that having too many drinks isn’t the only way to receive a DUI. The reality is that certain prescription (and over-the-counter) drugs – such as diazepam (Valium), Ambien,