Getting convicted of a DUI carries significant ramifications that may adversely affect you for years. A DUI conviction is typically a Class A misdemeanor, meaning you could be ordered to serve up to one year in jail. You could also be required to pay a fine of up to $2,500 with a mandatory minimum fine of $500. In addition, your driver’s license will be suspended for at least one year. And this is all for a first-time offender.

If you have prior DUI convictions on your record, the penalties are even more severe. For example, if this is your third DUI conviction, the charge escalates to a Class 2 felonywhich means you could be ordered to spend between three and seven years in jail. Also, your driver’s license will be suspended for at least 10 years.

Ways to Prevail Against the Government

The Governor of Illinois signed a new piece of legislation into law that alters the way police handle an arrest of someone under the age of 21 who is suspected of being intoxicated.

Senate Bill 2185, most commonly referred to as “Conor’s Law” requires that when a police officer arrests someone showing signs of being intoxicated who is under the age of 21,he or she must make a reasonable attempt to contact a responsible adult who can take custody of the individual. If police cannot locate a parent, guardian, family member, or friend, the arrested individual has the right take a breathalyzer test or other chemical test to prove thathe or she isbelow the legal limit of 0.08. The results of these tests are now prohibited from being used in a prosecution against the person placed under arrest.

The new law, which goes into effect in June 2018, enables police to detain someone under the age of 21 untilhe or she sobers up or, as mentioned, police can locate a responsible adult to come pick up the individual, according to WAND17.

We all know that driving under the influence is illegal, but is it illegal to sleep one off in your car? You may be surprised to learn that, in Illinois, the answer is yes, under some circumstances.

Under code section 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a), it is illegal to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle in Illinois while under the influence of alcohol or an intoxicating compound to a degree that you are not capable of driving safely. Therefore, if a court of law determines that an individual had actual physical control of the vehicle that they were sleeping in while intoxicated then that person can rightfully be convicted of driving under the influence in Illinois.

What Does it Mean to Have “Actual Physical Control” of a Vehicle?

When a police officer pulls you over on suspicion of driving under the influence in Illinois, he or she will likely ask to see your license and registration, ask if you have been drinking, and, if he or shestill suspects that you are intoxicated, administer one or more of the field sobriety tests described below.

Field Sobriety Tests

Field sobriety tests are simple tests that police officers administer on the side of the road after pulling a driver over in order to predict blood alcohol concentrations of 0.08 and above. Approved standardized field sobriety tests in Illinois include:

A DUI checkpoint (also commonly referred to a sobriety checkpoint or a DUI roadblock) is a roadblock initiated by the police in order to stop every vehicle (or a subset of vehicles) in order to assess the sobriety of drivers passing through. These checkpoints are often set up at times when drunk driving is most prevalent (namely around the holidays and on weekends) and on streets that see a disproportionate number of drunk drivers.

The Constitutionality of DUI Checkpoints

Generally speaking, police officers in the United States are only allowed to pull a driver over if they have a reasonable suspicion that the driver has broken the law.