This report evaluates two different approaches to sentencing DWI offenders in Georgia. One approach (called the "Todd Program" after the judge who developed it) imposed individually-tailored combinations of traditional and alternative sanctions, and the other approach generally imposed only the minimum sanctions required by state law. The measure of effectiveness was the statewide DWI recidivism of the offenders studied. The evaluation found that this program was more effective by a wide margin than the sentencing program that imposed the minimum sanctions. It was concluded that the Todd Program approach to DWI sentencing could be used in other jurisdictions. (Author/publisher)
Abstract