Will Montana Require Orange License Plates for DUI Offenders?

House Representative Champ Edmund Proposes Orange License Plates for DUI Convictions

Champ Suggests DUI BillMontana State Representative Champ Edmunds sponsored a new DUI bill, HB 276, which seeks to require DUI offenders to use orange license plates on their vehicles. Similiar to Ohio’s yellow license plate practice, an orange Montana license plate would identify a driver as one who has been previously convicted of drunk driving.

KFBB.com said some may view the orange license plates as a scarlet letter. The license plates would be in use by the DUI offender for five years, and the license plate number would begin with “DUI”. The bill would also require everyone with a past drunk driving conviction to change out their license plates for the new orange plates. The supporters of the bill say that offenders should put their criminal history on display in an attempt to shame them.

Opponents of HB 276 say the financial strain of a drunk driving conviction is enough punishment for DUI offenders. In addition to the orange license plate suggestion, HB 276 also adds $100 in additional fines for the special orange DUI plate.

4 thoughts on “Will Montana Require Orange License Plates for DUI Offenders?

  1. That guy in the picture has suffered a stroke. Stroke “victims” are no judge of who does or does not have the requisite motor/cognitive skills to do anything. That guy in the picture should not be making law pertaining to people doing things.

    • What would you say about registered sex offenders? They are convicted criminals, just as someone who has a DUI record is a convicted criminal, and sometimes R.S.O. have to post a sign in their yard (not sure which states require that). It seems like a similar scenario. Perhaps you lose some rights when you have a criminal record (like felons lose the right to own a gun.)

  2. I think the article misprinted his name — should read “Chump”. Good Lord. Make no mistake about it. What used to be a wonderful organization (MADD — Mothers Against Drunk Driving) is now a political witch hunt organization set out to get us back to the prohibition days. Even the organization’s president, Candy Lightner, resigned from the organization in 1985. Be careful what you wish for. In the state of Georgia, you would be better off if a police officer saw you snorting cocaine behind the wheel. You would get off on a first-offender law. Good Lord, make the mistake of having 2.5 beers, leave a sports bar at 1:30 a.m., and you’re screwed. Police report on my son was replete with mistakes, field sobriety test done improperly (and also replete with mistakes). District Attorney presumes you are guilty, so if you don’t fight the arrest, you are “rewarded” with less jail time, fewer fines, etc. If you don’t have the money to fight the arrest, “Chump” wants you to have a glaring orange license plate on your car? And we all know the police are “above reproach”, especially when under pressure to make “x” number of arrests and bring in “x” amount of money to municipalities? I do not advocate drunk driving (and I do not drink), but, let’s face it, having a DUI “FOR LIFE” on a .08 reading and now with Chump Edwards wanting to put a scarlet letter on everyone EVERYONE who is convicted of a DUI charge is insane. (I have a brother who died in a DUI wreck, so I don’t want to be asked any questions from survivors.)

    Wait until the legal limit is down to .05! Think of the new jails that will be opened. Every granny who has a drink of Chardonnay at their grandkid’s college graduation will have a breathalyzer in her car and three days in the slammer!

    My daughter got into a lot of trouble for riding two heavily inebriated people home in a car that was not her own. She was well below a .08; however, when the military base police searched the car she was driving one of the occupants opened the door and had to empty their stomachs on the way to the base, they found an old open can of beer (it was the drunk’s car — daughter was just doing the right thing in making sure they got home safely). She was arrested, lost base driving privileges for a year, etc…

    I have informed both of my children, if they have even had so much as a beer or glass of wine, to NEVER assist anyone who has been drinking again. If anyone is killed as a result of their decision not to assist, I told them to hand the victim’s family the phone number to the nearest MADD Chapter, so they can inform the president of that chapter as to what the unintended consequences of MADD’s actions are, and how MADD’s scorched earth policies have impacted their lives.

    Drive safely, now . . .

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