Drunken drivers would have to pay child support for victims’ kids under these laws

It was an unimaginable tragedy — the loss of her son, daughter-in-law and 4-month-old grandson in an April 13, 2021, car crash in Missouri — that pushed Cecilia Williams into advocacy.

The bill was first introduced in her home state of Missouri in 2022, but it failed. Still, similar legislation is spreading in U.S. statehouses, according to Becky Iannotta, a spokesperson for Mothers Against Drunk Driving , one of the— have passed some version of Bentley’s Law. Since 2022, at least 20 states have considered legislation similar to it.

“The toughest challenge is that no matter how hard we try, we will not be enough for these children,” said Williams, who has custody of her two grandkids. “Because those kids lost a part of them as well. They lost mom and dad, and there’s nothing that can fill that void. … But this legislation is a start.”

“Sharing those personal stories, even through the grief and tragedy of it all, gives them hope that lawmakers are listening and want to prevent this from happening to another family,” she added.Under the model legislation, courts would determine the amount of child support to be paid, following a conviction of driving under the influence. Support payments would be made to a surviving spouse or a guardian who is raising the children of victims, usually until those kids turn 18.

In Arizona, Republican state Rep. Selina Bliss, the bill’s sponsor, said that tying long-term financial consequences to drunken driving offenses can be a deterrent. “It was one of those bills that there wasn’t enough information, simply because many of these drunk drivers may not have the funds to do that, so who in fact would pay those costs?” former Missouri state Rep. Trish Gunby, a Democrat,Tennessee was the first to pass such a law, in 2022. But two years later, criminal defense lawyers in the state still aren’t sure how it’s supposed to work, according to Sara Compher-Rice, a criminal defense lawyer in Tennessee.

Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)

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