Julia Compton, a Franklin, Indiana attorney was suspended after her arrest for drunk driving on more than one occasion, and was caught yet again for driving with a suspended license in Bloomington, IN.
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Compton was pulled over by police in September 2017 and she received a summons to appear in traffic court two months later. Bloomington police did not arrest Compton, instead, she was ticketed for a Class A infraction, driving while suspended. Indiana ranks 14th in the nation for drunk driving deaths.
Compton is now facing more than a decade in prison after her third arrest for drunk driving. She also has a pending case in Johnson County, stemming from a 2016 drunk driving arrest.
The former attorney’s breach for driving on a suspended license came after Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) expressed concerns about Compton not having respect for the law or the safety of other drivers.
According to MADD, there are more than 10,000 drunk-driving related deaths each year, with 28 deaths every day and one death every 51 minutes. Each and every one of them 100% preventable. With nearly 300,000 injuries per year, MADD feels strongly that this is a preventable crime.
MADD stated that, “50 to 75 percent of convicted drunk drivers continue to drive on a suspended license, further clarifying that drivers’ license suspension does not keep the public safe,” said Lael Hill, spokesperson for the Indiana chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “Every year, over 10,000 people lose their lives to impaired driving and a percentage of those victims were victimized by repeat offenders. We must require all DUI offenders to install an ignition interlock device on their vehicle to prove they’re sober.” 20 states have no laws requiring an interlock device for all convicted drunk drivers.
In 2014, Indiana passed legislation require ignition interlocks for repeat offenders and to allow a judge to order the devices for first-time offenders. This legislation also created a statewide regulatory agenda for the state and the platform for MADD to advocate for a true all-offender law in the future. MADD urges lawmakers to close the loophole and pass a true all-offender ignition interlock law.
According to police records, Compton has four pending criminal charges in Johnson County for operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction, operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, operating a vehicle while intoxicated and habitual vehicular substance offender.
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