"The Scarlet D"

"I am a Drunk Driver". Those lovely letters will be emblazoned on your bright orange highway trash collecting wardrobe if you're a first-time DUI offender in Tennessee in 2006:

On Jan. 1, a new law takes effect that requires first-time DUI offenders to pick up highway litter for 24 hours while wearing an orange vest that says in 4-inch letters: "I am a DRUNK DRIVER."

Is this really a good idea? A Commercial Appeal editorial from today's edition adds more.

New Year's Eve is obviously a perfect time to speak about the ills of drunk driving. Drunks behind the wheel can hit anyone, but I particularly worry about my kids. All three will be on the roads today, the oldest is driving I-40 heading back to port as I type this. The worry never stops.

But diluting the previous law requiring a 48 hour jail stay in favor of embarassing people seems like a step backwards. Tennessee MADD was pushing for even tougher penalties, but the existing law of mandatory pokey for 48 hours seemed pretty harsh to me. Stats say that 75 percent of first time TN offenders don't repeat, better than the national average. Why tinker when tinkering might lower that average?

Other than the bureaucratic headaches this will create for each Sheriff's office across the state, do we really want the police blotter posted on people's backs? Many people already show no sense of shame and might consider these first offense punishments as "gimmies".

There's also the possibility of being wrongfully accused. Imagine someone walking the freeways picking up litter being forced to wear a shirt that said "Child Abuser" because someone reported them for spanking little Johnny at the mall? Or some poor slob wearing a "sexual offender" shirt because an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend wanted revenge and fabricated a crime. In those instances, will the Governor be forced to pick up trash wearing an orange vest saying, "I wrongfully shamed a citizen"?

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As an aside, the CA editorial primarily touched on Methamphetamine. My first encounter with the side-effects of this concoction came a few weeks ago when I visited my corner Walgreens to pick up some Advil Cold and Sinus. It's been awhile since I've purchased cold meds, so imagine my surprise discovering the familiar carton was now a nearly one-dimensional piece of cardboard I had to take to the pharmacy counter to purchase. Like buying expensive electronics at Office Depot.

You can tell I'm out of touch, but further shock and amazement occurred when the pharmacy clerk asked for picture ID and made me sign a register. He tried to not look at me as a would-be criminal as I asked him what the devil was going on, but he failed. Guess my last few years of health made me a suspect.

Here's the irony. In that same store I could've just as easily purchased a six-pack without showing ID or signing a register, guzzled it in the parking lot and driven into a DUI crash on the way home.

UPDATE 1/17/06

The Tennessean has an update and seems to share the concern.