Friday, December 18, 2009

Drink. Drive. Tweet.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office has found a new way to humiliate those unfortunate motorists who have been arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated -- they are posting their names on Twitter.

Assistant District Attorney Warren Diepraam said that the "public humiliation" should act as a "deterrent" to others who might get behind the wheel after drinking.

Nevermind that being arrested is a very different thing than being convicted and that a person who's been arrested is still innocent unless proven guilty. And of course the police never make wrongful arrests. And of all people, Montgomery County DA Brett Ligon should know better -- after all, he used to be a criminal defense attorney.

My question is should the DA dismiss a case against a motorist or should a motorist be acquitted by a jury of his peers, will Mr. Diepraam offer a public apology on Twitter as well? Even more important, will a person filing for an expunction in Montgomery County need to serve Twitter and other social networking sites, or will the judge sign an order requiring the DA's Office to notify those sites to remove all reference to the arrest of that individual?

1 comment:

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