NCJ Number
82482
Date Published
1980
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Findings are presented from an examination of New York State case records of persons committed for driving while intoxicated (DWI) or criminally negligent homicide while DWI in 1978.
Abstract
Fifteen DWI cases and 5 criminally negligent homicide cases involving DWI were surveyed. All 20 cases were committed from upstate counties. This is a noteworthy finding, since 77 percent of all types of new commitments in 1978 were from counties in the New York City region. The 20 offenders were generally white male offenders over age 30. The 1978 overall new-commitment population tended to be minority males under age 30 from the New York City area. Both the minimum and maximum sentences of those committed for DWI and criminally negligent homicide involving DWI were similar. Eighteen had been previously arrested at least once for DWI. Eighteen also had prior arrests for other offenses. The most common program recommendations for these offenders at reception were involvement in an Alcoholics Anonymous program or alcohol counseling by a corrections staff member. In 12 of the 20 cases, the person was subsequently involved in an alcohol abuse program. As of May 1980, 14 of the 20 offenders had been released to parole supervision. These releases had served 12 to 21 months prior to release. The remaining 6 cases not released to date had served 18 to 23 months. The primary issues raised by these data are the lack of commitments from counties in the New York City region and the similarity in sentences of the DWI and criminally negligent homicide involving DWI cases. Tabular data are provided. (Author summary modified)