Spring Grove police say teens' driver's licenses shouldn't be suspended

From the Wednesday, June 18, 2008 edition of the Northwest Herald:

Spring Grove police say teens' driver's licenses shouldn't be suspended
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com

SPRING GROVE - The driver's licenses of at least six of the 22 teenagers charged with underage drinking at a February barn party in Spring Grove are to be suspended.

The Spring Grove police chief, however, thinks that the suspensions are too harsh a penalty for the underage drinkers, and an attorney is working on altering the outcome.

"We were very clear we didn't want anybody's license suspended," Spring Grove Police Chief Tom Sanders said. "Our intention was never to get their licenses suspended."

The teens who have received notices that their licenses would be suspended either pleaded guilty or were found guilty of the underage drinking charges. At least six were forced to pay $215 and got 100 days of court supervision.

Spring Grove police took 58 teens into custody in February after they discovered a barn party at 7119 S. Solon Road. Of the 58 teens, 22 were charged with underage drinking.

In Illinois, whether the charge is filed under local ordinance, an underage drinking conviction means automatic license suspension.

Since 1995, Illinois law has stated that drivers younger than 21 who "are caught with any trace of alcohol in their systems will lose their driving privileges," according to the Illinois Secretary of State Web site, cyberdriveillinois.com.

The attorney handling the case for the Spring Grove Police Department, Mary Spiegel of the Ancel Glink law firm, called the suspensions "unfortunate."

"We are looking into ways to take care of it," Spiegel said late last week.

However, the secretary of state's office said such efforts might be futile.

"The problem is it's a zero-tolerance situation," said Dave Druker, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office.

Druker said the secretary of state can't make any "arbitrary choice" about whose licenses are suspended or not suspended.

"We follow what the law says," Druker said.