Oklahoma Bill Seeks to Ban DUI Convicts From Buying Alcohol; Attorney Worries It Might Affect Some Communion Takers
Republican state Sen. Patrick Anderson of Oklahoma has proposed a bill that seeks to ban persons with a DUI conviction from buying alcohol for a set time period, but legal experts say it would be difficult to enforce and one attorney worries how it might affect religious persons who take communion with wine.
The proposal highlighted in Senate Bill 30 (SB30) would also require that a notation of the restriction from purchasing alcohol be affixed to the driver license of the person convicted of the charge.
"In the case of a person convicted of operating or being in control of a motor vehicle while the person was under the influence of alcohol, order the person to abstain or refrain from consuming alcohol for such period as the court shall determine and to require that a notation of this restriction be affixed to the person's driver license at the time of reinstatement of the license and notice of the order shall be given to the Department of Public Safety," noted the proposal.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"The restriction shall remain on the driver license for such period as the court shall determine. The restriction may be modified or removed by order of the court and notice of the order shall be given to the Department," it continued.
Once the period of the restriction has expired however, the restriction can be removed from the DUI convict's driver license by the Department of Public Safety without an additional court order.
According to FOX 25, the bill could also form a law that would charge anyone caught buying or giving alcohol to a restricted individual with a felony that comes with a fine of 1,000 or up to a year in prison.
Defense Attorney David Slane explained to FOX 25, however, that he thinks the bill will be very problematic in enforcing if it is passed.
"The law does not have a catch all provision that would allow for circumstances if it's in the food," said Slane.
"In cases where people have religious right to take communion where there may be alcohol in the wine does it allow for that?" he asked.
Christian denominations like the Episcopal church say they serve communion wine with a higher alcoholic content from a common cup for sanitary purposes.
"Studies have been conducted on this, and experts agree that you are probably no more likely to catch a contagious virus from taking Communion, than from shaking hands. Our wine is fortified, which means it has a higher alcohol content, and alcohol kills most germs," notes Epiphany Episcopal Church.
The church however notes that if persons have an issue with taking the communion they can simply take the bread and skip the wine.
"Keep in mind the consumption of alcohol has never been illegal unless you were underage and in this case they are saying we want the court to enforce something that's almost unenforceable," he added.
While acknowledging that it would be hard to enforce, defense attorney Richard Roth told FOX News that the measure is a needed deterrent to stop repeat offenders from driving drunk.
"This is a deterrent, and there must be something done," said Roth.
