Two DUI death suspects were in court today. Malen Mitchell Jr. entered a not guilty plea to the DUI murder and fleeing the scene charge. Malen Mitchell Jr. was allegedly impaired in July when he crossed the center line and killed 22-year-old mother of four, Tiffany Blankenship. In the same courthouse, James Slone also faced one DUI and two murder charges. James Slone allegedly crossed the center line and killed Jeff Hamilton and Karen Mitchell.

Prosecutors in Kentucky say that DUI murder charges are being pursued more aggressively.

Commonwealth Attorney Brent Turner said, “it is a murder, not intentional, but a wanton murder, and we need to do all we can to stop this kind of behavior. And we are getting more DUI cases related to pills.”

Kentucky recently passed a drug to driving law that focuses on the challenge of detecting pain pill abuse while behind the wheel. Even with the new law, it’s still a challenge to prove a DUI and related crimes like murder by pill abuse compared to proving the crimes related to alcohol.

Now two years later on Nov. 1, the Erin Elizabeth Swezey Act will go into effect. The Erin Elizabeth Swezey Act will increase the penalties for DUI convictions. People convicted of DUI’s will be required to use interlock devices, have a “DUI conviction” stamp on their license, and the time before they can re-apply for driving privileges has been increased.

The Swezey’s have been tirelessly fighting to pass the Erin Elizabeth Swezey Act for the last two years. All their efforts finally came to fruition last week when Gov. Mary Fallin signed the act into law. The Swezeys have remarked, “Our hope is that this law will prevent more Oklahoma families from going through the tragedy that we and so many others have faced.” One statistic to note is that other states that have passed similar DUI laws have seen as much as a 60% decrease in DUI related fatalities.

Hopefully the Erin Elizabeth Swezey Act can do the same for Oklahoma.

For more information on the Erin Elizabeth Swezey Act, visit http://www.erinswezeyact.com/.

Kiowa Gordon is a Native American actor who grew up in Arizona. He is a member of the Hualapai tribe of Northern Arizona. He is also Mormon and belongs to the same ward as Twilight author Stephenie Meyer.

Not only are there harsher penalties under the new laws, but the state of Delaware will also offer more help  to offenders that are convicted. Anyone convicted of a DUI  will now be required to wear an alcohol monitoring device.

The first DUI law that does go into effect this Wednesday will allow first- and second-time offenders to attend school or work during their jail sentence.

Another law that was passed, but won’t go into effect until later 2011 will decrease the amount of time a first-time offender is required to use an ignition-interlock device from 1 year down to 6 months. This was one of the most debated public safety laws of the session.

After being released on bond, Hines Ward released this statement through his manager:

“On July 9th Hines Ward was stopped by Dekalb Co. police for suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence. He cooperated fully with the police and truthfully answered all of their questions,” the statement reads.  ”We are currently in the process of ascertaining all the facts.

“From our preliminary investigation we can tell you that we are confident that the facts will show that Hines was NOT impaired by alcohol while driving. However, Hines is deeply saddened by this incident and apologizes to his fans and the Steelers organization for this distraction.”

Here is Dennis Keene’s respons to DUI Death of Floyd County Mother of Four:

Wilder, KY:  State Representative Dennis Keene who has been the primary sponsor of tough DUI legislation in Kentucky responded today to the death Tuesday, July 5^th of 22-year-old Kentucky mother of four, Tiffany Adams Blankenship, “It is a proven fact that interlock devices save lives and had the Kentucky Senate passed House Bill 58 during the legislative session, there is a possibility that Tiffany would be alive today.”

A three-time convicted drunk driver killed Blankenship Tuesday.  Malen Mitchell Jr. has been charged with murder, DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.  House Bill 58 would have required that all convicted DUI offenders install an interlock (breathalyzer) ignition device on their automobile that would prohibit the engine from starting if the subject had been drinking.  The legislation unanimously passed the House of Representatives 95-0 in February but died in the Kentucky Senate without serious consideration.  Similar legislation passed the House in 2010 and was again ignored by the Senate.

Tiffany Adams Blankenship was a resident of Floyd County, Kentucky, the home of House Speaker Greg Stumbo.  “I am a big proponent of Rep. Keene’s attempts to crack down on repeat drunk drivers precisely because it could help avoid tragedies like the one we saw just a few days ago.  My hope is that we can get his interlock legislation passed once and for all in 2012 and begin making sure that those caught for drinking and driving do not make the same mistake twice,” said House Speaker Stumbo.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) strongly supports Keene’s efforts to pass ignition interlock legislation.  According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), alcohol ignition interlock devices save lives.  “Studies on interlocks for both first-time and repeat offenders show that interlocks reduce repeat drunk driving offenses by an average of 64%,” according to the MADD website.

Representative Dennis Keene nearly lost his daughter Kelly Keene Jones in a drunk driving accident in 2002.  She required three subsequent surgeries in order to overcome her injuries and now Kelly is an outspoken advocate for tougher DUI laws.

There were 27,157 drunk driving convictions in Kentucky in 2009 and 14 states currently have mandatory ignition interlock laws.

“I know too well the pain and suffering that Amanda’s family is going through and I intend to keep working to pass the ignition interlock laws to so that fewer families in Kentucky will go through these senseless tragedies,” said Keene.

Representative Dennis Keene represents the 67th House District in Campbell County that includes the cities of Newport, Bellevue, Dayton, Wilder, Southgate, Woodlawn and Highland Heights. He is chairman of the House Licensing and Occupations Committee, vice chairman of Economic Development and a member of the Banking & Insurance and is the Budget Subcommittee on Transportation.  Keene is a small business owner and an economic development advisor for Southbank Partners.  For more information, visit:www.DennisKeene.com