Wisconsin Lawmaker Wood Gets Censured, Not Expelled, For DUI Offenses

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Posted on 21st April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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 Wisconsin Rep. Jeff Wood, I-Chippewa Falls, didn’t get thrown out of office for having three drunken driving convictions, but his colleagues Tuesday decided to censure him. http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/91694409.html

 The state Assembly voted 73-24 to rebuke Wood, who just a day earlier pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 45 days in jail and more than $1,600 in fines for his third offense of drunken driving and possession of drug paraphernalia. His begins his incarceration next Monday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

 A proposal to take Wood’s seat away from him, which was brought by Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, was tabled in a 49-48 vote.  

 In a particularly pithy quote to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Tuesday, Nass complained, “We are supposed to be lawmakers, not lawbreakers.”

 But other Wisconsin lawmakers argued that it was up to voters, not the state Legislature, to get Wood out of office by calling for a recall.

 Wood, 40, was convicted of drunken driving charges in both 1991 and 1992. He also has two cases of allegedly driving under the influence last fall pending in Marathon and Monroe counties.

 Wood, who has said he won’t run for reelection, told a judge Monday that he is in treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, and hasn’t used them for nine months and six months, respectively.

 As part of his newest sentence Wood’s driver’s license will be  suspended for 27 months.    

Wisconsin Lawmaker Convicted of Third Drunken Driving Charge

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Posted on 19th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Facing possible removal from office, Wisconsin State Sen. Jeff Wood was convicted of his third drunken-driving and possession of drug paraphernalia charges Monday. http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/91518534.html

 The legislator was immediately sentenced to 45 days in jail and fined $1,600, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

 On Tuesday the Wisconsin Assembly is set to try to drum Wood, an independent from Chippewa Falls, out of office because he has been arrested three times in the past year for driving under the influence. Republicans will seek a vote on his expulsion.

  Rep. Steve Nass, a Republican from Whitewater, last fall brought a resolution seeking to remove Wood from the Assembly, based on his legal problems.

 Wood, who already had drunken driving convictions in 1991 and 1992, will start serving the sentence for his latest conviction Monday. Although Wood will have work-release privileges, his driver’s license is being revoked for 27 months. He must also have an ignition interlock put in any car he drives for two year, according to the Journal Sentinel.

 Wood will also have to enroll in drug and alcohol treatment.

 The state senator currently has other charges pending against him, in Marathon and Monroe counties, of driving under the influence of prescription drugs.

 A two-thirds legislative vote is needed in order for Wood to be removed from office, the Journal Sentinel says. Democrats believe that Wood should be reprimanded or censured, not kicked out of his senator’s seat.  

 

Wisconsin Lawmaker, With Three DUI Arrests Under His Belt, Mounts Legal Challenge of Legislature’s Bid To Oust Him

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Posted on 17th February 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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We’d like to think that three arrests for driving while under the influence would perhaps not be the best credentials for an elected official. But Wisconsin Rep. Jeff Wood, (I-Chippewa Falls), begs to differ.

Woods, who faces expulsion from the Wisconsin Legislature, is not going away quietly. He is raising legal issues, “detailed procedural questions,” as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel put it, about his possible ouster.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/84362307.html

Wood’s attorney is arguing that the Assembly’s guidelines on how such expulsions should be handled are shaky at best. The lawyer seem to be hanging his hat on this argument: that Wood shouldn’t be punished by his fellow legislators for actions he took outside the Capitol that has nothing to do with his post as a lawmaker.

Under that reasoning, we suppose if Wood could have committed any crime and still be entitled to his seat in the Assembly.

Wood’s rap sheet is pretty long. Last year he was charged with: drunken driving, and marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession in Columbia Country; driving under the influence of drugs in Marathon County; and driving under the influence of drug and jumping bail in Monroe County.

Wood has resolved one of those cases, according to the Journal Sentinel. In a plea-bargain deal in Columbia County, Wood will plead no-contest to third-offense drunken driving charges. The marijuana and paraphernalia charges will be dismissed.

Under the plea, Wood could get 30 days to a year in jail, and be fined $600 to $2,000.

Those incidents were not Wood’s first run-ins with the law. In the early 1990s, Wood had two drunken driving convictions.

A special ethics committee will discuss Wood’s case at a hearing Wednesday.

From our perspective, drunk driving is a terribly serious offense. The first step towards injury prevention is to avoid accidents. Little increases the risk of an accident more than mixing alcohol and driving. Enough said.