Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Arizona's Ineffective Tool for the Social Control of Driving Under the Influence

Abstract

Throughout the past 20 years or so, the social construction of driving under the influence (DUI) as a social problem has effectuated changes in both formal and informal social controls over the DUI offender. The imposition of mandatory minimum sentences for DUI offenders appears to be one of the more popular tools of formal social control of late. This study examines the legislative history of Arizona's DUI laws from 1975 through 1995 and the corresponding changes in the DUI arrest rate in the state throughout the course of that same time period. The data suggest that a statistically significant decrease in DUI occurred as a result of the implementation of informal social controls throughout the relevant time frame but that ever-increasing criminal sanctions, including the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences for first-time offenders, have had little or no effect on DUI behaviors in Arizona.