When driving a car, it is necessary for a person to be completely focused on their driving in order to ensure the safety of those on the road. When someone is driving while under the influence of alcohol in Wisconsin, they may be pulled over and charged with drunk driving. Once the person has been arrested, they may be charged and sentenced, or they may be allowed another chance, depending on several factors in the situation. A new law that was recently proposed may make it more difficult to obtain a fourth or fifth chance.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on a new law that would tighten up the sentencing for those who are convicted of multiple OWI offenses. There is currently no rule for how a judge should handle these cases, and one particular man has been let go after getting behind the wheel of a car while drunk eight different times.
The new law would require that any person who is convicted of OWI more than seven times spend at least three years in prison, and those who break this law more than ten times would be required to spend four years in prison. Other situational factors may also be factored into the sentence.
Lawmakers may be hoping that stricter laws will help to lower the occurrences of OWI within the state. Anyone who is facing an OWI charge that may lead to a prison sentence might benefit from consulting an attorney to determine if a plea bargain with prosecutors is the best way to guarantee their sentence is minimized as much as possible.
Source: WIFR.com, “New OWI law proposed in Wisconsin,” Whitney Martin, may 10, 2013