Lawyer: Breathalyzers are racist

Wait for it ...

Ruane says research shows that the lung capacity of a black man is 3 percent smaller than a white man and, therefore, black men's test results vary from the sobriety standard set by the device.

Comments

Now that we have a black (sorta) president-elect, the racist "I'm a victim of da MAN keeping me down" claim is moot, because da MAN is now a black man.

[Tim]

the game of pool is racist too :-)

[k]

If lung capacity can skew the results, this could open up a whole new line of defense against these tests.

[locomotivebreath1901]

Blogger: lawyers are idiots.

A 'Loser Pays' system is desperately needed in this country.

Esp. a system where lawyers can be held accountable for the court costs of stupidity like this.

Krykee!

[Nemesis]

Haven't well placed people gotten fired for making statements that people of color are lacking in other ways? I guess it's only true if you are the victim. That said, you can only be a victim if you allow it.

[T-Bone]

I think I'm going to throw out the BS flag on this one...

The call... Unnecessary race card pulling... compounded by excessive stupidity.

[Lance Weber]

Breath test machines are built on a "one size fits all" basis and assume that everyone has the same breath:blood ratio of 2100:1.

As k noted, this can be a defense in some cases, and DWI defense lawyers have already been using it.

Cheers!

[FanDanGo]

Ditto, T-Bo. If I recall correctly, these tests measure the alcohol in the volume of air expended so the size and capacity of the lungs doesn't matter. But if this BS holds up, each time someone is stopped for DWI, they'll have to actually draw a volume of blood from the driver! I'd rather blow . . .

[T-Bone]

You'd rather blow than get poked???

Sorry FanDanGo... couldn't resist!

[You're a Mean Drunk R2D2™]

Could that be the reason of the popularity of Newports?

[Drew]

Gosh, let's not forget the obvious: He was arrested on I-95. I doubt there is an Intoxilyzer 5000 (or 8000) sitting roadside on I-95. A bettin' man would wager on the proposition that he failed the roadside field sobriety tests as a predicate for requesting the breath test at the station. Just a far-fetched, theory of course.

This is fine, though. Administrative laws won't change on the matter, and assuming CT's laws are like KS or MO (and that's possibly a strong assumption), he can request a blood draw if he wants--he'll still lose his license for refusing to blow.

Anyway, the logic is against him in this instance. Seemingly, there would be a shorter time to give an adequate breath sample with a diminished lung capacity (oh, that negligible 3%!), would be shorter.

In the event that the breath alcohol tests were rendered inaccurate or discriminatory, then like FanDanGo said, the standard would be blood or urine. Fine with me. That's why it's easy not to drink and drive.

Thank goodness for the ability to make conscious decisions. Damned personal accountability.

[A]

This is not about race. Everyone knows that. Agreed that this is rediculous. This man isn't even thinking about all the overweight people with asthma!! They have terrible lung capacity and aren't pissed for getting caught with the bottle up and their pants down!

[Rosie]

Give me a friggin' break. I guess he can't account for the accomplishments of so many black male athletes. Hm. Perhaps they have a mysterious ability to process oxygen better than white men.

[Searching]

**Just standing here helping T-bone hold up the flag**

[Truth Teller]

Maybe it has to do with the extra bone in their ankles?