Humiliated Until Proven Guilty?

Suppose you were pulled over on suspicion of a DUI because, let's say, you swerved to avoid hitting a squirrel in your path. The cop behind you didn't see the squirrel, so he stopped you to see if you'd been drinking. For the sake of argument, let's say you haven't had a sip of alcohol in the past three days.

The officer asks you to step out of the car and engage in some "tests," but maybe you're just a little clumsy and nervous. The officer still isn't sure about your condition and he simply laughed at your "I swerved to miss a squirrel" defense, so he asks you to blow into the breathalyzer.

Low and behold, it registers a .09! You're hauled into the station, incredulous and understandably angry. Usually, a suspect would receive a second breathalyzer test with the bigger and better unit housed at the station but for some reason the officer failed to so do. Let's assume the breathalyzer was malfunctioning in this scenario, which will be proven later.

So now you wait until your trial (an innocent person doesn't usually plead guilty) to clear your good name, but then your friends and relatives start asking you why your mug shot is on a state-maintained web site of DUI suspects.

Don't worry, it won't happen in Chicago. But the Honolulu Police Department is doing just that (ABC News). Perhaps it's not much different than the daily police blotter on most local newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times, but critics say it just doesn't seem right.

But, similar to published records of the previous day's arrests naming suspects who have yet to get their day in court, it's all public record. It's a tough call and touches on some of the finer points of constitutional law that an Illinois DUI lawyer could better explain.

So if you find yourself on the laid-back but still bustling island of Oahu, be careful not to "live aloha" too much, you just might send the wrong kind of greetings back to your friends in the Windy City.