Alcohol Monitoring System As An Effective Jail Alternative

In today's recession, many any states are desperately trying to close budget deficits and turning to their prison and jail systems to do it.

In California, for example, the budget crisis has led to threats of closure for some of the state's largest and most overcrowded jail facilities. As a result, local governments such as in Orange County and Los Angeles are turning to jail alternatives such as the SCRAM alcohol monitoring system to free up some cash and also solve the jail overcrowding problem.

The SCRAM anklet, or Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor, turns a person's own body against them by using sweat to detect the slightest presence of alcohol. The SCRAM alcohol monitoring system is able to detect the just a hint of alcohol and immediately notify the judge that you have violated one of the court's orders for which the person can be sent to jail.

Is the SCRAM alcohol monitoring system an effective alternative to jail? Yes.

For one, the SCRAM alcohol monitoring system is cheaper than housing a DUI offender in jail. For the state or local government, at $12 a day, it is far cheaper than the thousands of dollars it can cost to provide for someone in jail. As for the offender, they get to stay out of jail which, in many cases, means they can keep their jobs, continue to attend school or stay with their kids.

In Orange County, California, for example, if you are arrested for a second DUI within 10 years, there is a good chance that you will be looking at a sentence of 30 to 60 days depending on the particular facts of the case. 30 to 60 days in jail usually means that someone else is going to have your job when you get out.

Opponents of the SCRAM alcohol monitoring system fear that it is a little too "Big Brother." Maybe it is? However, I bet any one opposed to the SCRAM anklet would be the first in line for it if they were looking down the barrel of two months in jail.

The SCRAM alcohol monitoring system has been used as an effective jail alternative for a number of years in Los Angeles and Orange County, especially with young DUI offenders to ensure that they don't consume alcohol. Now other states and local governments are catching on and using the SCRAM alcohol monitoring system as a effective cost cutting measure as well.

Written by Gabriel Dorman
Los Angeles, California
gabedorman@gmail.com
www.criminaldefenseduilawyer.com/blog/
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