Substance Abuse CLE Announces Economic Stimulus Prices

Substance Abuse CLE unveiled new economic stimulus prices for Fall 2010. Each California MCLE lesson was only $14.00!
Sorry if you missed it. Current prices have returned to $20.00.

- Alcohol Abuse and Addiction in the Legal Profession

- An Attorney's Struggle With Methamphetamines

Substance Abuse CLE Adds New Lesson On Methamphetamines

Substance Abuse CLE provides quality and easily affordable continuing legal education classes that satisfy the MCLE requirement of the California Bar Association pertaining to the Prevention of Substance Abuse in the Legal Profession.

Substance Abuse CLE has just added a new lesson entitled An Attorney's Struggle With Methamphetamines. The purpose of this activity is to fulfill the California State Bar Rule 2.72 (A)(3) requirement by providing one hour of self-study credit in the prevention of substance abuse in the legal profession. Most lessons fulfilling this requirement provide generalized information on substance abuse, or are geared toward alcohol abuse and addiction. This new lesson focuses on facts about methamphetamine use and addiction by presenting a true case study about a California attorney’s struggle with methamphetamine addiction, the resulting misconduct, his resignation from the bar, and his recovery and petition for reinstatement to the bar.

This activity was approved by the California State Bar on July 16, 2010 for the period July 15, 2010 to July 14, 2012. The California State Bar provider number of Substance Abuse CLE is 15199.

Link to Substance Abuse CLE

Ohio Councilman Busted for Drunk Driving

A councilman from Findlay, Ohio, pleaded no contest to drunk driving and was ordered by the court to finish a 3-day driver education program in lieu of 3 days in the slammer. In addition, the councilman had to pay a $375 fine and $50 in court costs. The story is here and here.

The councilman’s drunken motoring occurred in June after he became intoxicated at a graduation party. He got behind the wheel of his car and was subsequently pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy. His blood alcohol level was 0.159. He later called his conduct “reprehensible.”



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Former Bell City Manager Pleads Guilty to DUI

By now everyone has seen reports of the incredible corruption by officials from the city of Bell, California, particularly from the Los Angeles Times. With countless reports of elected and appointed officials basically stealing money from tax payers, we at Substance Abuse CLE couldn’t resist this opportunity to blog about it when we got the chance.

You know Robert Rizzo. He was the guy earning $787,637 to manage the City of Bell, whose population totaled only about 40,000 low and middle class workers. In addition, he was eligible for 28 weeks vacation and sick leave per year! Think about it, there are only 55 weeks in a year. Well, before his shocking salary was made public by the Los Angeles Times, Rizzo was arrested for driving while drinking.

According to numerous reports, such as the one here, Rizzo was arrested on March 6, 2010 in Huntington Beach, after he crashed his car into his neighbor’s mailbox. His blood-alcohol level was 0.28 percent. That’s more than three times the legal limit of .08! He was so drunk that the police had to stop the field sobriety test for Rizzo’s own safety.

Recently, Rizzo changed his not guilty plea to guilty, and was sentenced to a nine-month alcohol awareness program and 10 days of community service as a first-time offender.

 

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Mt Prospect City Official Pleads Guilty to DUI

Mt. Prospect, Illinois has a population over just over 56,265 people, and at least one drunk driver. Unfortunately it’s the city manager, Michael Janonis. Janonis pled guilty to DUI on June 21st. For the full story, see here.

Start with golf with old buddies, throw in several drinks, and then get behind the wheel. The result is sub-par. Janonis was pulled over after driving nearly 20 mph over the speed limit, and then blew a 0.21. His punishment: one year supervision for DUI, a $2,500 fine plus court costs, 10 hours of court mandated school, and 20 hours of counseling sessions. Embarrassment and humiliation was comes with the crime. He was on his way to a family function when he was arrested. Obviously, he never made it.

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Yardley Councilman Charged With DUI

The historic town of Yardley, Pennsylvania was founded by William Yardley, who came to the colonies from England in 1682. It must have developed into a fun, happy place, because three local politicians there have been charged with DUI in the last year. The latest is Yardley Councilman Michael Ruttle. See the story here from the Bucks County Courier Times.

Ruttle, a 59-year-old lawyer and Democratic councilman, was charged with misdemeanor DUI charges in May. He has been a councilman since 2006.
The criminal complaint indicates that at about 1:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning, an officer saw Ruttle’s silver Honda Accord drift over the broken line and straddle both lanes, police said. Then, the car drifted over the road's fog line and rumble strips, until it was entirely on the shoulder of the road and nearly side-swiped the guard rail.

Once pulled over, Ruttle smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes. According to court records, Ruttle had a blood alcohol level of 0.141. Almost twice the .08 legal limit.





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Washington Mayor Coppola Arrested for DUI

This month the mayor of the small Washington town of Port Orchard was arrested for DUI. Lary Coppola (Yes, he spells his name Lary), was arrested by police who say he blocked-in a truck delivering newspapers with his car at 1:30 a.m. State police were called to ensure that the mayor did not receive favorable treatment by the local police who recognized him. They said the mayor smelled of booze, and had slurred speech and blurry eyes. His blood alcohol level was measured to be above the legal limit.

Read the story here.

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