Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
Residents have to be 21-years-old to legally consume alcohol in the United States. Recently, we celebrated the 28th anniversary of the passing of that law! Still, there are many arguments against it, despite the fact that it has saved thousands of lives.
Some say that if you can be 18-years-old and fight a war then you should be able to drink a beer at 18-years-old. Others say that we should follow Europeans and make the legal drinking age 18 — they have less alcohol-related problems than we do.
There’s nothing farther from the truth, according Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
It takes more than a law to keep our teens safe. Parents have the power to help keep kids safe. As matter of fact, parents are the key influence in getting their teens to make smart decisions. To help parents to get the conversation started, officials with MADD kicked off the Power of Parents program.
This program helps to educate parents and teens about the risks and the dangers that are associated with underage drinking. The program also helps to guide parents in their talk with their young driver.
Associates and Bruce L .Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, has spent decades supporting MADD’s mission and fighting for the rights of drunk driving accidents victims throughout Southwest Florida. It’s a three prong approach and takes a little bit of help from everyone. Better education efforts. Better enforcement. Better care of victim’s rights.
Speaking of victim’s rights, MADD is asking residents to take a step toward better victim rights. What’s being targeted here is a new amendment for victim’s rights, House Joint Resolution 106 (H. J. Res. 106).
Officials with MADD are asking you to email or call your United States Representative today and ask them to co-sponsor the amendment.
What would happen under this amendment is that the rights of crime victims would be better protected and they would be able to stay more in-tune with legal proceedings. They would also be permitted to attend proceedings and to hear about some of the most important decisions regarding these cases. As is stands now, each state has statutory laws on the books that protect these rights for victims but most of them are unfortunately ineffective.
Too often, victims of drunk driving accidents lose track of the criminal legal proceedings — and are never afforded the opportunity to address the court or attend sentencing.
Even in states that have “strong protection” for the rights of victims, only about 60 percent of victims are every notified about the sentencing hearing and far less than half of them are ever told about the pretrial release of the defendant.
To get the amendment to move forward, it needs at least 100 co-sponsors.
Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, represents drunk driving car accident victims in Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral and elsewhere. Call us for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights. Call 1-800-283-2900.
