Administrative License Revocation in New Mexico: An Evaluation

Swiftness of punishment for drivers impaired by alcohol is likely to be increased objectively by administrative license revocation laws. These laws provide that a driver who fails or refuses a breath-alcohol test has his license confiscated on the spot by police, with formal loss of driving privileges following shortly thereafter. This study of New Mexico law looks for evidence of a deterrent impact of administrative license revocation. Interrupted time-series analysis finds a permanent drop in the proportion of driver and pedestrian fatalities involving the presence of alcohol precisely at the time that the law went into effect. However, lack of publicity for the law and the existence of a complex procedure, unpopular with many police, appear to have diminished the law's effectiveness.     

A SELF-REPORT COMPARISON OF INDIAN AND ANGLO DELINQUENCY IN WYOMING

Previous studies, including those of Wind River Indian Reservation youth, indicate that native American adolescents have a relatively high rate of official delinquency involvement, Official rates may reflect, however, not only the actual incidence of delinquent behavior, but also other factors such as the manner in which the law is enforced. The findings of the present study are based on a self-report type questionnaire administered to students attending two high schools in the Wind River Indian Reservation area of Wyoming. The data point to little overall difference in the delinquent behavior of Indian and Anglo males, with the exception of a greater involvement of Indian males in delinquent activities centering around the school. The Indian female, however, appears to be considerably more involved than her Anglo counterpart in running away from home and in a variety of offenses centering around the school, theft, vandalism, and assault. When social class is controlled, there is a substantial reduction in the number of offenses for which there are significant differences between the two races, although a few differences are found on particular class levels which do not obtain for the sample as a whole.