Florida is known for having issues with drunk driving. In 2013, Florida had both the third-most DUI arrests and third-most drunken driving related deaths of any U.S. State—placing behind only the nation’s two most populous states, California and Texas, in both categories. Florida’s prosecutors are extremely aggressive in pursuing criminal penalties for DUI offenders. DUI police officers in Florida, and especially Broward County, have vehicles equipped with security cameras to accumulate as much evidence as possible against violators. Needless to say, drunken driving is never a good choice—but if you do so in Broward County, you may regret the repercussions for a long time.
Even Florida’s legal standard bearers are getting into trouble for driving while intoxicated these days. In an embarrassing reminder that nobody is above the law, three Broward County judges have been arrested for DUI in the past seven months. The rash of judge arrests has drawn nationwide media scrutiny.
On May 26th, the third of those judges, Broward County Circuit Judge Lynn Rosenthal, was arrested for DUI. In an ominous twist, the arrest came in the parking lot of a Fort Lauderdale courthouse, where Judge Rosenthal hit a parked, unmarked patrol car.
Judge Rosenthal ultimately tested negative for alcohol, but she refused blood and urine tests. She claimed she had taken an Ambien CR, a prescription drug known to cause occasional drowsiness, the night before the accident.
Eventual verdicts notwithstanding, the trend of judges on the wrong side of DUI law is troubling. Broward County public defender Howard Finkelstein theorized that people with such strong judicial authority risk forgetting they are capable of violating the law. “When people ascend to the bench and put that robe on, it’s very common that they start to believe that they are bigger than the law; they are above the law; they are the law,” Finkelstein said. “Is that happening in Broward? I’ve seen that happen here for many years, decades. I thought it was getting better. I still think it’s getting better, but this is a very big bump in the road.”
Although no one is above the law, everyone has the right to have a skilled attorney at their side when accused of violating it. Should the need ever arise, Gilbert and Smallman has excellent Fort Lauderdale DUI lawyers at the ready, and has provided quality representation from South Florida all the way to Tallahassee. If you need defense with proven results, contact a skilled Gilbert and Smallman DUI lawyer!
