Top DUI attorney says laws discriminate against women

Well-known California Defense Attorney Lawrence Taylor is supporting the opinion that current DUI laws discriminate against women, citing multiple studies.

Taylor, whose law office specialized in DUI defense, is the author of Drunk Driving Defense and is a DUI defense advocate. He has issued memos citing a study at the University School of Medicine in Trieste, Italy. There, researchers found women have less of a key enzyme that breaks down alcohol in the stomach.

The enzyme, dehydrogenase, is essential to lowering blood alcohol levels. Without it, women's bodies will have a much higher level of alcohol after the same amount of consumption as their male counterparts. In fact, scientists believe women will get to the "legal limit" after drinking about 60% as much as men.

The scientific journal Analytical Toxicology has produced another study drawing the attention of Taylor and DUI defense attorneys. This study shows women have lower partition ratios than men, meaning their apparent blood alcohol count will be higher even if the level of alcohol in the blood does not vary. The study claims a level of .06% for a woman could show a .09% on a breath test due to lower partition rates.

Further aggravating the case to enforce separate laws for women is the issue of the affect of birth control on blood alcohol levels. A 1982 study by the Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal founds that peak alcohol levels occur much faster in women taking oral contraceptives. The sex steroids also produce a higher level of acetaldehyde, which may register as alcohol on a breath test.

The role of women's DUI defense has grown tremendously in the past decade. As DUIAttorney.com has reported, DUIs in women have risen 30% while the counts for men have dropped about 8%. Many defense attorneys and women's rights activists claim this was the natural progression resulting from the lowering of BAC legal limit to .08%, which may be as little as one drink for some women.

A further question raised by prosecutors, however, asks whether the number of drinks truly matters or if the BAC is a fair measure of intoxication. If a woman needs to consume 30% less alcohol than a man in order to stay under the legal intoxication limit, then women may need to consider this before getting behind the wheel.

The issue for defense attorneys, however, is not always the true alcohol levels in a client but rather the levels a breath machine registers. If breath machines truly are being thrown off by birth control and lower partition rates in women, a breath test may not be sufficient to measure a woman's true alcohol level.

The New England Journal of Medicine has suggested legislation should be considered to provide for sex differences in DUI laws. While many like to argue for gender equality across the board, this may be one area where the physical consistency of a woman's body sets forward a case for different laws for men and women.