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Project
Characteristics |
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Actual
DUI Trials in Schools
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Program
Areas |
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Youth
Programs
Alcohol
and Other Drugs
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Type
of Jurisdiction |
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County |
Targeted
Population |
| High
School Students |
Jurisdiction
Size |
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1,700,000
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Funding |
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157
Funds: $267,871
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Contact |
Christina
Oshinsky, MPH
DUI Court in the Schools
Project Coordinator
Santa
Clara Public Health Department
770
S. Bascom Avenue
San
Jose, CA 95128
(408) 494-7855
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Digest
Listing
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CALIFORNIA
DUI Court in the
Schools
(PDF Version)
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Santa Clara
County’s Public Health Department noticed a marked increase in crashes
involving alcohol use among drivers under 21 years of age. In 2001,
Santa Clara
County
reported 146 such cases. Since 1998, there has been a 12 percent increase.
In 2002, 6,822 Driving Under the Influence (DUI) arrests were made
countywide, and 530 of these were drivers under 21 years of age.
Santa Clara
County’s DUI problem is large and complex. Resources are limited.
There is increased awareness that the criminal justice system cannot solve
the problem alone. The rising numbers of alcohol-related crashes along with the increasing
number of teenagers in the county indicates the need for innovative
approaches to solve the problem. Although DUI prevention is a priority
activity for law enforcement agencies, sufficient resources are not
available to conduct a community education program year-round.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of DUI Court in the Schools is to provide an interactive,
multi-faceted program that conveys a clear lesson about the serious
consequences associated with using alcohol and other drugs, impaired
driving, underage drinking, and illegal alcohol sales.
The project’s objectives include:
- Develop a school-community linked education plan designed to
increase understanding of and promote confidence in the justice
system's role in reducing underage drinking and DUI;
- Facilitate live DUI trials on high school campuses throughout the
county:
- Ensure that a school in each city has the opportunity to host an
actual DUI trial; and
- Develop a marketing plan to increase news coverage and gain support
for reducing underage drinking.
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The DUI Court in the Schools
project implemented the following strategies and related activities to
achieve its goals and objectives:
-
Made
presentations at the County Bar Association Criminal Law Committee
monthly meeting and met with individual judges and attorneys to gain support and guidance on how to successfully conduct trials in the
schools and to resolve security and liability issues.
-
Identified suitable defendants and mock jury for the
trial. Until the Public Defender's Office informed defendants that their
monetary fine might be lowered if they participate in the program, defendants
had no incentive to participate. Defendants waive rights to a jury trial and
accept a bench trial. Judges in prior cases viewed the program as providing a
public service to the student and community and often reduced the defendant's
monetary fine.
-
Met with school and court system representatives at the
beginning of the school year to improve communications and increase the
likelihood of having multiple scheduling options for hosting a trial.
-
Transferred actual DUI court cases and transported
staff, including judge, court clerk and reporter, bailiff, prosecuting and
defense attorneys, and defendant from the municipal courthouse to the campus
auditorium or theater.
-
Conducted media events and community awareness
activities to publicize the project, such as coverage from local newspapers,
community access stations, school newspapers, Santa Clara County's Traffic Safe
Communities Network (TSCN) partners' newsletters, international, national, and
local news stations.
-
Solicited interest by sending outreach materials
including a cover letter, survey, and newspaper clippings highlighting some of
the actual DUI trials conducted in area high schools.
RESULTS
The Santa Clara County Health Department in conjunction with the Superior
Court of California, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, the
California Highway Patrol, and Police Departments throughout the county
have conducted 14 actual DUI trials impacting over 3500 students. They overcame numerous obstacles such as judicial system staff turnover and
school schedules that limit the dates that a DUI trial can be conducted at
a school.
Over
3,000 surveys were collected from schools participating in the DUI trials.
Preliminary analysis of 1,552 of the student surveys indicate increased
awareness of laws pertaining to drinking and driving in youth. The pre-trial survey revealed that 80.9 percent of students knew that
minors in California
driving with a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.01 percent would
lose driving privileges for one year. The post trial survey indicated that 86.4 percent answered correctly; which
is a 5.5 percent increase.
Before
the trial, 88.7 percent of students knew that it is a crime for anyone
under 21 to drink alcohol; this increased by 1.7 percent. Prior to the
trial, 80.7 percent indicated that they would not get into a car with a
driver who had been drinking. After the trial that number increased by 9.2
percent. The
program evaluations demonstrate that the program increases student’s
knowledge of the consequences and reduces the likelihood of riding/driving
while drunk.
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