The state’s highest court Thursday banned the Registry of Motor Vehicles from increasing some sanctions against drivers who acknowledge they were drunk when stopped by police, but whose cases are ultimately dismissed by a judge without a finding of guilt. Writing for the unanimous court, Supreme Judicial Court Justice Margot Botsford said that when Beacon Hill lawmakers toughened the state’s drunken driving law in 2005, they did not change the legal definition of what qualifies as a “conviction’’ of a driver.
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I know our dedicated, hard working Legislature will do the right thing and immediately move to correct this. YEA RIGHT! Seriously, this would be easy to correct if the REPRESENTATIVES of the people wanted to. If they cared about the problem of drunk driving and the victims. But, the reality is, the defense lawyers among them, and their lobbyists will make sure of the status quo. Remember how difficult it was to get Melanie's Law passed in the first place? How certain legislators fled the country to avoid a vote and how the newspapers embarrassed them to get them to act? It is time for the Globe, Herald and TV Stations to step up and get them to act.
The Registry likes to take matters into their own hands and does not care to be challenged about it. A court order seems to mean nothing to the registry. They are not their own little commonwealth, but they sure act like one.