{"id":2008,"date":"2012-11-30T12:34:45","date_gmt":"2012-11-30T19:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alcoholmonitoring.com\/blog\/?p=2008"},"modified":"2016-02-18T18:38:29","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T18:38:29","slug":"church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"Church vs. Jail for Underage Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oklahoma District Court Judge Mike Norman is using an unusual form of punishment for a convicted DUI offender involved in a fatal accident. Tyler Alred, age 17, was convicted for manslaughter for causing the death of his friend John Dum in a crash that happened in August of this year.<\/p>\n

His sentence? Ten years of attendance at the church of his choice.<\/a><\/p>\n

Tyler was 16 at the time of the crash, and had been drinking before getting behind the wheel of his truck. John was ejected from the vehicle and killed instantly. Tyler\u2019s BAC was under the 0.08 legal limit, but because he was a minor, his drinking was illegal.<\/p>\n

Judge Norman has issued the unusual sentence before<\/a>, mostly for child support cases, but never for a manslaughter charge. He stands behind his decision based on the fact the Tyler was young and had a clean record prior to the crash. Also, the sentence had the support of the victim\u2019s family. Tyler must also wear an ankle bracelet that monitors alcohol consumption<\/a> and get counseling, graduate from high school and welding school, attend victim-impact panels and speak at events about the consequences of drinking and driving.<\/p>\n

The sentencing raises questions of constitutionality and fairness, as well as sentencing discretion. Even Judge Norman agrees the sentence wouldn’t uphold\u00a0a challenge. But he issued it because both sides were in agreement, and he knew it wouldn’t be appealed.<\/p>\n

Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, argue that the judicial discretion in this case is out of bounds. But Norman holds firm to his ruling.<\/p>\n

Should judges exercise this level of sentencing discretion, allowing the system to provide checks and balances through appeals? Many argue that sentences such as electronic and alcohol monitoring violate civil rights, and that treatment-based programs that allow diversion from incarceration are equally soft on crime and even inappropriate. Mandatory sentencing guidelines would change the sentence, yet most in the judicial community agree that the judge is in the best position, case by case, to determine appropriate sentencing.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Should judicial discretion\u2014and the desires of the victim’s family\u2014outweigh mandatory sentencing guidelines?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oklahoma District Court Judge Mike Norman is using an unusual form of punishment for a convicted DUI offender involved in a fatal accident. Tyler Alred, age 17, was convicted for manslaughter for causing the death of his friend John Dum in a crash that happened in August of this year. His sentence? Ten years of attendance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13,15],"tags":[41,94,160,296,402,404,443,544,545,717],"class_list":["post-2008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drunk-driving","category-electronic-monitoring","category-underage-drinking-2","tag-aclu","tag-american-civil-liberties-union","tag-church-as-court-sentence","tag-feature","tag-judge-mike-norman","tag-judicial-discretion","tag-mandatory-sentencing","tag-oklahoma","tag-oklahoma-district-court","tag-tyler-alred"],"yoast_head":"\nChurch vs. Jail for Underage Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident? | Sobering Up<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Oklahoma District Court Judge Mike Norman is using an unusual form of punishment for a convicted DUI offender involved in a fatal accident. Tyler Alred,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Church vs. Jail for Underage Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident? | Sobering Up\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Oklahoma District Court Judge Mike Norman is using an unusual form of punishment for a convicted DUI offender involved in a fatal accident. Tyler Alred,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sobering Up\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SCRAMx\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-30T19:34:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-18T18:38:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/church-vs-state.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sobering Up Administrator\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@scramsystems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@scramsystems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sobering Up Administrator\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sobering Up Administrator\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d81eb856e7b30e26591614b66cb58512\"},\"headline\":\"Church vs. Jail for Underage Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident?\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-30T19:34:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-18T18:38:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/\"},\"wordCount\":369,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"ACLU\",\"American Civil Liberties Union\",\"Church as court sentence\",\"feature\",\"Judge Mike Norman\",\"judicial discretion\",\"Mandatory sentencing\",\"Oklahoma\",\"Oklahoma District Court\",\"Tyler Alred\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Drunk & Impaired Driving\",\"Monitoring & Technology\",\"Underage Drinking\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/\",\"name\":\"Church vs. Jail for Underage Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident? | Sobering Up\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-30T19:34:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-18T18:38:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"Oklahoma District Court Judge Mike Norman is using an unusual form of punishment for a convicted DUI offender involved in a fatal accident. Tyler Alred,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Church vs. Jail for Underage Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Sobering Up\",\"description\":\"Covering drunk driving, alcohol addiction, and criminal justice.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SCRAM Systems\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sobering-up-logo-retina.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sobering-up-logo-retina.png\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":290,\"caption\":\"SCRAM Systems\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SCRAMx\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/scramsystems\",\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/alcohol-monitoring-systems\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/scramsystems\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d81eb856e7b30e26591614b66cb58512\",\"name\":\"Sobering Up Administrator\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/su-admin-logo-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/su-admin-logo-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Sobering Up Administrator\"},\"description\":\"Sobering Up: A blog about drunk driving, alcohol addiction, and criminal justice, is anything but a corporate blog. Sobering Up is an opportunity for anyone interested or involved in the issues of drunk driving, alcohol-fueled crime, alcohol dependence and addiction, and the justice system to participate in the conversation.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/author\/sp-admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Church vs. Jail for Underage Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident? | Sobering Up","description":"Oklahoma District Court Judge Mike Norman is using an unusual form of punishment for a convicted DUI offender involved in a fatal accident. Tyler Alred,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Church vs. Jail for Underage Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident? | Sobering Up","og_description":"Oklahoma District Court Judge Mike Norman is using an unusual form of punishment for a convicted DUI offender involved in a fatal accident. Tyler Alred,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/","og_site_name":"Sobering Up","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SCRAMx","article_published_time":"2012-11-30T19:34:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-02-18T18:38:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":700,"url":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/church-vs-state.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sobering Up Administrator","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@scramsystems","twitter_site":"@scramsystems","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sobering Up Administrator","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/"},"author":{"name":"Sobering Up Administrator","@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d81eb856e7b30e26591614b66cb58512"},"headline":"Church vs. Jail for Underage Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident?","datePublished":"2012-11-30T19:34:45+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-18T18:38:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/"},"wordCount":369,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["ACLU","American Civil Liberties Union","Church as court sentence","feature","Judge Mike Norman","judicial discretion","Mandatory sentencing","Oklahoma","Oklahoma District Court","Tyler Alred"],"articleSection":["Drunk & Impaired Driving","Monitoring & Technology","Underage Drinking"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/","name":"Church vs. Jail for Underage Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident? | Sobering Up","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-11-30T19:34:45+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-18T18:38:29+00:00","description":"Oklahoma District Court Judge Mike Norman is using an unusual form of punishment for a convicted DUI offender involved in a fatal accident. Tyler Alred,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/church-vs-jail-for-underage-drunk-driver-in-fatal-accident\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Church vs. Jail for Underage Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/","name":"Sobering Up","description":"Covering drunk driving, alcohol addiction, and criminal justice.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"SCRAM Systems","url":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sobering-up-logo-retina.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sobering-up-logo-retina.png","width":1100,"height":290,"caption":"SCRAM Systems"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SCRAMx","https:\/\/x.com\/scramsystems","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/alcohol-monitoring-systems","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/scramsystems"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d81eb856e7b30e26591614b66cb58512","name":"Sobering Up Administrator","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/su-admin-logo-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/su-admin-logo-96x96.jpg","caption":"Sobering Up Administrator"},"description":"Sobering Up: A blog about drunk driving, alcohol addiction, and criminal justice, is anything but a corporate blog. Sobering Up is an opportunity for anyone interested or involved in the issues of drunk driving, alcohol-fueled crime, alcohol dependence and addiction, and the justice system to participate in the conversation.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/author\/sp-admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}