Mike Sherman was recently interviewed by public radio station WHYY-FM, of Philadelphia, about a change to PA law that would require ALL DUI offenders to have an ignition interlock.

This change would require low-risk, first-time offenders who have never been in trouble before to have an ignition interlock, which involves a driver blowing into a breathalyzer-like device in order to start their car engine. There is no data showing that first offenders will not re-offend if they are required to have this ignition interlock, and this could cause people who have been employed for decades to lose their job because they cannot have their boss or clients in their car when it has an interlock.

Mike made this point in the Newsworks article based on the interview:

Mike Sherman, vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Association for Drunk Driving Defense Attorneys, is a skeptic. Because interlock devices are vulnerable to false positives, he said, that could mean an inappropriate sentencing extension. And, he argued, most first-time offenders are unlikely to repeat their mistake.

“When you put an ignition interlock device in that vehicle, when he has to have his boss in his car, when he has to have clients in his car, he's not going to be able to do that,” said Sherman. “He may lose his job.”

Read the article in full here.