For as much education (…and a rigorous one at that) as lawyers have to go through to practice law, it sometimes amazes me that some attorneys still lack some very basic and common sense. A recent interaction with a high ranking prosecutor reminded me of this and prompted me to write this blog
Not all drunk drivers are alcoholics.
The case that prompted said interaction with the prosecutor involved a drunk driver who caused a collision. The driver’s blood alcohol content was admittedly high at a 0.20 percent. After discussing the matter with the prosecutor, her reaction was "Well, his blood alcohol content was a 0.20 and he caused this crash, so he clearly has a drinking problem."
As lawyers, we are trained to think logically. In fact, the Law School Admission Test (commonly referred to as "LSAT") devotes one third of the exam to specifically test the logic of would-be law students. This portion of the exam was suitably called "Logic Games." This is exactly why it was such a shock to hear that conclusion come from an attorney with so much authority behind their position.
And this was such an obvious logical flaw; the "False Cause Logical Fallacy" to be specific. The name might not sound familiar, but how the fallacy works certainly will.
A causes B when there is no causal relationship exists or when there is merely a correlation between A and B.
The drunk driver in my case was not a heavy drinker nor was he a regular drinker. He drank occasionally when he was out to dinner or with friends. It can hardly be said that he had a drinking problem. He merely made the poor decision to drive after one of his infrequent drinking occasions.
In 2008, a study was published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research which suggested that almost half of who drove while intoxicated were only occasional drinkers.
Medical epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Nicole T. Flowers along with her colleagues analyzed data from a 2006 survey where more than 350,000 adults were questioned about behavioral risks such as drinking and drunk driving. They found that 84 percent of drunk drivers had been binge drinking. "Binge drinking" was defined as four or more drinks in one sitting for women and five or more drinks in one sitting for men.
The researchers, however, also identified "heavy drinkers" as women who consumed more than one drink a day and men who consumed more than two drinks a day. And after categorizing the two groups, they found that binge drinkers who were not heavy drinkers made up 49 percent of those who drove while under the influence.
While I’ve devoted my career to defending drunk drivers, I understand that drunk driving is a problem and I would never condone it. But I also understand that people are people who will always make mistakes.
So here’s my plea to anyone finding themselves agreeing with the prosecutor’s conclusion: Please don’t let your social distain for drunk driving affect your ability to think logically and make judgments about a person without knowing the individual circumstances of that person or their case.
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