Illinois State Supreme Court ruling on drugged driving raises fairness questions

The Chicago Tribune reports:

A recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling has given prosecutors a controversial new weapon in driving-under-the-influence cases — the ability to upgrade charges when small traces of drugs are found in motorists' systems after a crash, even if there's no evidence that they were impaired at the time.

Justices ruled in April that drivers found with even the slightest remnant of an illegal drug in their bodies should be found guilty of a felony if their bad driving caused a fatal crash.

Proof they were impaired isn't required, which means prosecutors no longer have to show the drug contributed to a crash, only that it was present in the offender's system, according to the decision. The ruling upheld a felony conviction against a pickup truck driver who had a trace of methamphetamine in his system when he killed two people in a crash.

Citing that decision, DuPage County prosecutors in May upgraded a misdemeanor charge to felony aggravated DUI involving drugs in a case in which a driver admitted taking "one or two" hits of marijuana the night before he is alleged to have plowed into a motorcyclist in a fatal collision last year in Addison. The motorist now could face three to 14 years in prison rather than up to 12 months in jail.

You'll want to read the whole article. Illinois is becoming a very scary place.