LICENSE DEPRIVATION AS A DRUNK-DRIVER SANCTION

Only one sanction, license deprivation, is strongly supported in the research literature as effective in reforming the drunk driver. Although this accomplishment appears to be far from perfect, it is real and important, whereas this claim cannot be made for such sanctions as fines, jail, or community service. Moreover, license deprivation has another meaningful promise for criminal-justice goals: as a general deterrence. In contrast to reformation, which applies to future behavior of the punished offender, general deterrence applies to the future behavior of onlookers. These people may not have committed or been detected in an infraction, but they are expected to be influenced by the fact of those who have been so identified and punished. Again in this regard, most traditional sanctions for drunk driving have not been found to be effective, but license sanctions appear in some degree to have their intended consequences.