College Applications, DWAI Violations, and DWI Misdemeanors

Sometimes people who blog tell me they don't know what to write. If you have any interests, passions, and inspirations I find it hard to believe you would have nothing to express and share. Suffice it to say my greatest strength and my greatest weakness are the same. I love to speak and write. Thank God I'm a criminal defense lawyer. My wife tells me I need to work on the listening part sometimes. On other occasions I am accused of listening but not hearing what she is saying. Yeah I can't play the defense lawyer card at home. She warned me years ago you may win the fight or argument but don't expect me to be there for you later. She is a nice balancer and one of my goals in life is to keep her temporarily happy. I am a realist but I know given her continual demands of my time and attention to her and our four children I could never keep her happy all the time. In fact, pissing her off is something which comes naturally for me. Anyway the golden rule (there are other laws besides man or woman-made ones) of "Happy Wife Happy Life" is as true today as it was when I learned it over twenty years ago from a close friend. Which leads me to helping my daughter and thus keeping my wife happy...

My daughter is planning on changing colleges and once again going through the application process. She naturally comes to me for guidance in answering questions, especially ones that might reflect upon her admission to college. In one of her applications an interesting question came up.

Have you ever had a violation of law where the fine was over $200.00?

I have never seen an employment or college application ask about violations. For obvious reasons who wants to hear of speeding tickets or other moving violations. So this was a first for 2009. Usually they ask about crimes. A crime being something punishable by a jail sentence.

Misdemeanor - A specific type of offense for which a person may be sentenced to more than 15 days but not more than one year in jail.

Criminal convictions for misdemeanors are something people look to avoid for exactly this reason. Now it seems that Colleges are giving more scrutiny to their applicants.

In New York a DWAI (1192 (1)) Driving While Ability Impaired is classified as a traffic
infraction but in an unusual case it is punishable not only by a fine, but by imprisonment in a penitentiary or county jail for a term of not more than 15 days. If a motorist has a second DWAI within 5 years the fine goes up as well but it is still a traffic infraction. For a third DWAI it becomes a Crime.

Traffic infraction - A violation of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law that has not been classified a misdemeanor or felony. It is considered a petty offense.

So in the normal course of events it would not come up or be revealed or have necessity to be exposed on an application for employment or School. Now it seems the rules of the game are shifting. FYI the fines for a DWAI are in the $300-$500 range so it would require an affirmative response to the question previously posted.