CITIZEN'S DUTY

When you're right, you're right. That's why Stan Burnett just sat still as
Rep. Peggy Wallace, R-West Jordan, told the House Law Enforcement and
Criminal Justice Committee that she was profoundly furious, upset,
disgusted, disgruntled and saddened that people - people like Stan Burnett -
would use the Constitution to keep drugged drivers on the street. It's why
he didn't bat an eyelash when Tama Hale showed the committee photographs of
her son who was killed by a drugged driver. It's why Stan Burnett took great
satisfaction when Senate Bill 7 died a quiet death Friday.

"It's great news," Burnett said. "I'm pleased, and it looks like they will
approach it with a more scientific approach the next time."

You probably didn't hear much about SB 7. Buried underneath the hyperbole of
Pledge of Allegiance requirements and blustering over tuition tax credits,
it was just one of so many pieces of legislation that join the flotsam and
jetsam of the legislative session. Burnett didn't hear about it until it was
already cruising out of the Senate and headed to the House, destined for
little debate and easy passage. But when he did hear about it, about how it
would have allowed the state to prosecute supposedly drug-impaired drivers
for automobile homicide without actually proving impairment, Burnett started
to do something about it.

"Since this bill had no opposition, I felt it was up to me," he said.

He's a normal guy - not one of these legislative watchdogs who gets a
hard-on every January when the session starts. He wears a flannel coat and
works as a technical writer. He commutes. And like most normal people, he
became disenchanted with the political process a long time ago - being a
liberal in Orem will do that to you.

Burnett objected to the bill, sponsored by Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Salt Lake
City, because it meant somebody who smoked pot three weeks before getting
into an accident in which a person was killed could be convicted of drugged
driving. All the prosecution had to do was take a blood test - if you test
positive, say howdy to second-degree felony, pal. Never mind the fact that
you weren't actually impaired when you ran that red light - you're a drug
user and you should be punished.

(According to DRUGPROOF, a company that provides drug testing services to
employers, marijuana can be detected in the blood stream from five to 20
days after use, depending on the level of habitual usage.)

Burnett didn't agree with the bill's intent. Neither did Mark Moffat,
president of the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, who called SB
7 a "dangerous piece of legislation" that was likely prompted by a
"particular case where there was somebody who was loaded and somebody died
but they couldn't prove he was impaired."

Burnett didn't possess the experience or the lobbying muscles of a group
like Moffat's but that didn't stop him from working to help defeat the bill.
He started by writing letters to the editor, and when those failed to elicit
a response, he began calling members of the law enforcement committee.

When the legislators received Burnett's initial phone call, many of them
told him it was the first that they had heard of SB 7. They heard him out
and noted his objections, and then reviewed the legislation for themselves.
In between hearings and tabled debates, Burnett updated his webpage
dedicated to stopping the bill, and talked to any legislator who would
listen.

On the surface, Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, isn't the type of guy
you'd expect to come to Burnett's aid. But instead of huffing and puffing
about keeping drug users off the streets and cleaning up this state,
Christensen had serious questions about the constitutionality of
transferring the burden of proof from the prosecution to a blood test,
especially when scientists have been unable to reach a consensus on drugs
and impairment, like they have been able to do with alcohol.

Ultimately, the objections from Burnett, Christensen and Moffat - three
people you wouldn't expect to find in bed together - wiped the drugged-
driving provisions from Walker's bill. And in the end, a normal guy from
Orem concerned about overzealous prosecutors won his battle on the Hill.

"I have had a great time," Burnett said. "But I've been nervous - I've
really kind of been obsessed about it. I'm just amazed by how accessible the
process is. I've been really pleased because, as a citizen, you can engage
the process."