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Today is Thursday, March 28, 2024 at 04:57 AM.



An innovative program to curb drunk driving by seizing the vehicles of repeat offenders has made its way from the streets of Portland to the national agenda in legislation proposed by Oregon congressman Earl Blumenauer.

The congressman wants to establish a vehicle forfeiture system as a qualifying program for federal anti-drunk-driving grants. Backing Blumenauer's proposal is a study conducted by the Reed College Public Policy Workshop that found that vehicle seizure substantially reduced re-arrest among repeat drunk drivers under the Portland program. Most importantly, the study found that unusual steps taken to assure civil liberties did not have an adverse effect on the effectiveness of the program.