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Jacob Sullum (of the often excellent Reason Magazine) makes note of a prosecutor in Arizona who places DUI offenders’ names, mug shots and BAC levels online. Sullum concludes that the prosecutor is “imposing extrajudicial punishment, based on his unilateral conclusion that the penalties prescribed by law for DUI offenses provide an inadequate deterrent.”

Publicizing records that are, by nature, public is normally fine by me. But the prosecutor seems to have created, in a sense, a DUI offender registry. Appearance on sex offender registries are determined by law, not the whim of prosecutors. Also, Mothers Against Drunk Driving won’t endorse the idea:

“Some parts of the Web site are good because they are informational and trying to provide the victim’s perspective,” said Misty Moyse, the spokeswoman for the group. However, she said, “M.A.D.D. would not want to be involved in calling out offenders. We are interested in research- and science-based activities proven to stop drunk driving.”

 (crossposted at Overlawyered.com)

A commission in Massachusetts is looking at charging drivers … by the mile:

Under the commission’s plan, a 5-cents-per-mile fee on major roads would replace, or minimize, gas taxes and fundamentally change a central aspect of everyday life.

“The idea that this is completely free is a fiction. It isn’t,” said James Aloisi Jr., a lawyer who served on the commission and a transportation official under former governor Michael Dukakis. “Someone’s got to pay for it. We think the user should pay for it.”

Drivers paying for the space they eat up on the road, minimizing delays to every other driver? Perish the thought.