by Colin Preseley

Created on: March 13, 2009   Last Updated: June 16, 2009

A BILL OF ERRORS AND OMMISSIONS:

Primarily, Ohio Senate Bill 17 revises the punishment applicable to alcohol-related offenses involving the operation of a motor vehicle. It encompasses four principal revisions, as follows:

* Revises sentencing provisions for an offender who is again convicted within six years of the prior offense.

* Revises vehicle forfeiture provisions that apply to an offender who has been convicted within the preceding six years.

* Removes from the bill the prohibition constituting the offense of wrongful entrustment of a motor vehicle specifically as it applies to the previous requirement that a person allowing another to use a vehicle must first have known, or have had reasonable cause to believe that the other person does not have a valid driving privilege; that the privilege was under suspension; and that the driving of the motor vehicle by the other person would otherwise be an offense under the Ohio Vehicle Code.

* Finally, if the court grants bail to a repeat offender, a condition of bail would require not only that the repeat offender not consume alcohol, but that the person be required to wear an alcohol monitoring device, or "SCRAM" (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring)

While SCRAM professes to measure alcohol on an hourly basis through perspiration (the offender wears an ankle bracelet which measures ethanol levels in the perspiration being absorbed), it is not entirely without its criticisms. Likewise this bill omits any reference as to who will pay the costs associated with the monitoring process if the offender is indigent. (This issue will be discussed further at the close of this article).

For example, it has been reported that the wearer of a SCRAM device who worked in an area where alcohol was used to clean circuitry components, nevertheless registered as a violation due to its extreme sensitivity. Interestingly, the legally accepted partition ratios (parts blood to alcohol) is 2100:1 for a breath test machine while Scram is 15,000:1. This ratio is used to establish a reliable blood alcohol content (BAC). However, since the terms of wearing the SCRAM bracelet requires abstinence, a BAC isn't necessary. Accordingly, the registered level of the offender shows only the minimum BAC required under law for conviction. In California, for example, this level is .08, so that is what will register on SCRAM when any alcohol is detected.

The initial problem that presents itself is that inhaled alcohol or dermal exposure to alcohol

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