Self-Affirming Sensastionalism and DWI Prevention

Texas law allows for a probation requirement whereby DWI offenders must have an Ignition Interlock Device installed on their cars. Travis County judges will also require it as a condition of pretrial release in certain cases (i.e. repeat offenders, egregious offenses, or especially youthful suspects). Several companies sell products which affix to the person's ignition and prevent them from driving. Amazingly, one such provider, Smart Start, has marketed their products to defense attorneys in what I can only guess is an attempt to get us to suggest their product over others.

Two things happened today which give me pause (above and beyond recommending a company that has the potential to put my clients back in the pokey):

1) We have a client who is alleged to have violated the terms of his probation by submitting breath samples with alcohol in them while trying to operate his vehicle. He noted that he received a different message from the machine than what is normally received for a failure. Trying to clear this up, I gave Smart Start a call and expected them to at least generally discuss the machine and it's operation, since I am, at least potentially, in a position to send them business. The local employee I spoke with said that their position was that they would not share any information about the product with the client or the client's lawyer. In short, he concluded, "Sir, I'm not telling you anything." Fair enough, but tell your Marketing folks to stop blowing smoke up my ass, OK? Besides, your stonewalling notwithstanding, a subpoena should produce the information we're looking for.

2) While I searched for technical and operational information about their products online, I stumbled across something that I found a little disturbing and a lot misleading on their homepage. At the bottom of the page, the have some text which claims "DWI is the nations [sic] most frequently committed violent crime" (you may have to Reload a few times to see the same banner). It's certainly a noble goal to prevent drunk drivers from re-offending, and I can honestly say that the alternative to an ignition interlock device is ridiculously cost-prohibitive for most people convicted of a DWI, so I do give IID companies credit for helping to allow my clients to drive so that they can keep their jobs.

But calling DWI a violent crime is ridiculous (those are all law enforcement sources, BTW). DWI is completely outside the common understanding of what a violent crime is. A "violent crime" is one where one person threatens or does violence to another (think murder, rape, aggravated assault, child abuse, robbery, assault, etc.) Yes, some people who are DWI kill or injure innocent victims. But not everyone who commits a DWI (or who is arrested for DWI) fits that description. This is the same as saying "Speeding is a violent crime", "Weaving in a lane of traffic is a violent crime", or, as happened to a client who came in today, "Stopping to aid another motorist who got into an unrelated accident is a violent crime." It's dishonest, even if it's well-intentioned.

More proof that words do (should?) matter.

UPDATE: The US Supreme Court agrees with me. In the context of defining "crimes of violence" under the Immigration Code, a DWI does not belong. So says Leocal v. Ashcroft. Take that Smart Start webmaster!!!!

Travis County's Finest

Not your best moment, Adam. With all apologies to Judge Breland, though, it is sort of humorous to see "simulated masturbatory gesture" in a official court document.


Perhaps it's time to reconsider using "Bulletproof" as your nickname? Besides, you can't give yourself a nickname, Coco.

(FYI, "contumacious" means obstinate; stubbornly disobedient; persistently, willfully, or overtly defiant of authority.)

Loyalty Defined

It's nice to see that the Sixers crowd last night was so classy in welcoming The Answer back to South Philly. The Illadelph is not known for this kind of behavior and it was great to see him get so emotional too.

If only the rest of the city could behave this way. I still believe Joey Vento's signs at the cheesesteakery-that-shall-be-unnamed are awful and likely intimidate non-whites, but the city attorneys just didn't do a good enough job of convincing the Commission on Human Relations that "Please Speak English" signs resulted in discriminatory refusals of service. Now, if someone was to put together an elaborate hidden camera sting (I'm looking at you Chris Hanson....), then they could likely connect the dots. The city won't push too hard, though. They're not out to commit political suicide.

(Of course, the ultimate irony is that Joey Vento's ancestors likely suffered terrible discrimination when they arrived in Philadelphia from Italy, a fact that is entirely lost on him.)

SXSW: Days 2-4

So, after having a great time on the first day of SXSW, I completely lost steam going into the weekend. I think, at age 30, the simple act of going out until 1am for that many nights in a row has the tendency to wear you down.

In any event, on Thursday the Missus and I made the trek into the Mouth of the Cat. We parked and walked 13 blocks to see The Presidents of the United States of America. These guys were part of the mid-90's influx of moderately talented bands who rocked hard and were marketed harder. I came more for the cache of seeing how far they had fallen from Top 40 fame.

Wheatus was performing when we got there. I can't say much about them other than their name is oddly similar to weenis (where have you gone Wicked Sceptre?). We met an old friend of ours there, so maybe it was just because we were too busy catching up to pay them very much attention. Oh well, next time I'm in Long Island....

PotUSA really caught me off-guard. I expected this to be the typical "we're still playing the string out on our top 40 hits" moment of SXSW. However, despite being about 2 times as old as the crowd, they brought it, enough to make me ignore the old friend. They had great energy and their new material was excellent. Secondly, they played both their radio songs ("Peaches" & "Lump"), and both were well-received (which makes me incredibly two-faced since I will with one breath accuse them of being two hit wonders and in the next, express joy over the fact that they played said hits). I might actually take a flyer and purchase a CD.

Friday was super-packed on W. 6th. by the time I got down there, hoping to see North Mississippi All-Stars or The English Beat, it was full up. Oh well.

My vote for the coolest show that was booked as an official participant that I did not get to see was Wing. For those of you not familiar with her work, here's a quick summary: Wing is a Hong Kong native and current resident of New Zealand who has released 14 albums of her covers of popular music. She does not appear at all familiar with any of the covers she performs, all songs are sung about 3 or 4 octaves higher than originally composed (except apparently for her Alto album), and most are off-key (I suggest you listen to some samples here). She also appeared in a South Park episode. Unfortunately, the Missus and her dad were not as enthusiastic about the performance as I was, and I guess I need to work on my persuasion skills if I have any shot at making this law thing work.

SXSW Music: Day 1

I have something embarrassing to confess. Despite growing up in Austin, being in Austin during Spring Break after that on numerous occasions, and living here for the past two years, I have never been to a single official musical event. There. I said it. Flashback to Monday. A guy who we met at our local had made a ridiculous bet (whether Dan Rather would win his lawsuit) and I think realized his judgment had been affected by the sauce and was looking to settle up. Boom! Two wristbands! I am a South By virgin no more.....

Last night, I spent about an hour on the official website narrowing down what bands sounded like they would be fun. I found a lot of interesting sounds there, but the venue I was settling on had to overcome my fear of dealing with East Sixth Street. Finally, I found music I liked at a venue I could park at: Warp Magazine's Show at Opal Devine's Freehouse. The Missus was not enthusiastic about going out (probably because she didn't have the last 1 1/2 hours invested in finding a place to go to). I saw three performances, and my neophyte reviews follow:


Kanko: These guys are actually from Austin, and their music is a little hard to describe. Their were some moments of mariachi, some surf rock sounds, a rapper's delivery, and a little bit of punk thrown in. The mostly Mexican crowd didn't seem to get it at first, but by the end they had people moving.


Los Dynamite: Mexico City band with English lyrics and a huge following who came up to support them from DF. Fucking brilliant. Strokes-y, Hives-y, Energy. Made a 32 year old feel young again. For 35-40 minutes, at least.


Sussie 4: I talked to their front man, Odin, while we were waiting for Los Dynamite to play, and he had a great attitude and seemed real psyched to be down here. Then they came out and blew me and the audience away. The idea of live techno doesn't appeal to a lot of people, but everyone in that tent was moving within 2 minutes of the first song. Odin was all over the place, playing drums, tweaking the Korg, playing bass, and he probably played a xylophone too, but I couldn't see from my angle. For God's sake, his name is Odin, dammit!

Brilliant.