SCRAM: False or Not?
I have been looking for a realistic study on the tamper device. One report shows 733 confirmed tampers involving 158 offenders, I was 2 of those tampers and yet I did not tamper for delinquent purposes. This report failed to show how many involved a positive alcohol read as well, or how many were notified (by phone, police dispatch etc...) with reasonable certainty that the defendant could make there defense. In short, I'll bet that a vast majority of these confirmed tampers were false alarms but without more information, it appears that many defendants have lost their liberty for sleeping, wearing pants or socks or simply the tether falling down their legs which is quite comfortable after have 8 ounces pulling on your skin with every step for months! An interesting part of the study showed that the were 180 confirmed positives for 63 offenders. It does not take much logic to explain the dramatic increase in "confirmed tampers", for we can almost avoid contact with ethanol in most forms, most everyone wears socks, pants and or sleeps. Another factor not mentioned here is the abrasions. Could the dead skin from the scabbing wound create a tamper?
Today, I am still getting responses from concerned wearers, some charged with allegations that are "virtually" impossible to beat, and some just wearing it. One person claimed " My son was sent to jail for about forty days for two probation violations because his SCRAM unit showed what Jeff Hawthorn called drinking episodes. We went to court and prevailed thanks to a Judge who ordered two probation officers to wear SCRAM units and spend an hour in close proximity to my son and the oven that he works by in a bakery. All three units indicated alcohol consumption. AMS and Jeff Hawthorn need to be held accountable for the losses that people incur do to SCRAM's inability to distinguish consumed alcohol from invirnmental alcohol. Seems as though AMS is able to profit from a hastily marketed product." Remember, you can't fool the SCRAM bracelet, yet another possible way the device can fool the legal community, or are they?$?
Reference:
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:v0spCOum7jUJ:www.nlectc.org/training/commcorr2006/bock_commcorr2006_comparing.pps+scram+false-positives&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=13&gl=us
Today, I am still getting responses from concerned wearers, some charged with allegations that are "virtually" impossible to beat, and some just wearing it. One person claimed " My son was sent to jail for about forty days for two probation violations because his SCRAM unit showed what Jeff Hawthorn called drinking episodes. We went to court and prevailed thanks to a Judge who ordered two probation officers to wear SCRAM units and spend an hour in close proximity to my son and the oven that he works by in a bakery. All three units indicated alcohol consumption. AMS and Jeff Hawthorn need to be held accountable for the losses that people incur do to SCRAM's inability to distinguish consumed alcohol from invirnmental alcohol. Seems as though AMS is able to profit from a hastily marketed product." Remember, you can't fool the SCRAM bracelet, yet another possible way the device can fool the legal community, or are they?$?
Reference:
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:v0spCOum7jUJ:www.nlectc.org/training/commcorr2006/bock_commcorr2006_comparing.pps+scram+false-positives&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=13&gl=us
posted by marcellus91872 at 10:36 AM
6 Comments:
My husband is wearing a scram. He is doing very well, not drinking and focusing on recovery. We must go to court this morning because although no alcohol was detected the device showed a day in which it appeared that something was trying to block the scram. The only thing we can think of is that part of his sock may have gotten under the strap. I will be outraged if he goes to jail over this when he is doing so well.
Please, if you are serious about fighting the scram injustice as read in all these blogs, please write me (i am not a lawyer) at fightscraminjustice@gmail.com.
Please give your history while wearing your scram bracelet, along with any incidental information that might be helpful.
We cannot win alone, but in numbers we can. With you in this fight against injustice.
I am a 41 year old English teacher from Ohio. I was convicted of a DUI in 2006. When my school board learned of the offense, they required me to wear an ACTSoft alcohol monitoring bracelt for three years, at my own expense. After an entire year of wearing it without any real problems, my bracelet began showing ethanol readings of .3-.5 over a period of several weeks. I was not informed of this until two weeks later. Because the company does not share the readings with the wearer of the bracelet, I can not be sure, but I believe I am still testing postive for ethanol even as we speak (or write). I have not had a drink since 3/22/07. However I did begin taking the medication Seroquel (which contains ethanol) one week before my positive readings began. The school borad intends to fire me on 4/28, because I can provide no proof that the medication could cause inaccurate readings. I can't believe I'm the only person that has experienced this problem. Any suggestions?
Dr. Hlastala or a physiologist, fight, your not the first to lose a job due to fallocious allegations from modern alcohol detection! Innocent until proven guilty...maybe in another country.
I recently had a false reading of a obstuction. I helped a friend clean his house to get it ready to open a sober living house. I was there from 12:pm until 6:pm on a Saturday. I was using Ajax and Windex and did not think that there might be any problem using these products.After all the company does not give you a list of products that you should not use they only tell you to be careful when using cologne and bathroom products. I went home and manualy uploaded at 7:40pm everything was fine. On Sunday morning I uploaded at 8:12AM and the report stated the STATUS as In Process & the ACTION as wait more data. On Monday I uploaded at 11:12AM and the report came back as A Confirmed Obstruction was placed between the bracelet and the leg from 1:55PM Saturday to 12:14 Sunday. It also said Alcohol is seen under the obstruction. I received a call from them at 3:41PM on Monday informing me of the reading. I told them I do not know why it would show as a obstuction and let them know what I was doing on Saturday. On Tuesday I went to get a Alcohol test done just in case I needed it. I gave a letter and a print out of the reading and the negative alcohol test to my attorney and told him to give it to the judge. He told me not to worry about it. The next thing I received was a warrant for my arrest . I ran into the court to comfront this allegation and was told I needed to have my attorney with me. My attorney showed up and had no knowledge of what to tell the judge and new nothing about the workings of the SCRAM. Now I have a full blown trial . I am desparate to find a attorney who know about the SCRAM in California . I have been completly sober for almost six months and doing great until now. Now I need to defend myself against a machine.
I have tried to call the so called manager in charge of reading the reports and told him how can I block the device when I uploaded during the time of the confirmed blockage. He told me he can not talk to me since he was the one testifying against me.
Well it seems they are trying to use the device according to the Sixth Amendment, however the right of notice of accusation simply states they apprise a defendant of the allegations with REASONABLE CERTAINTY the defendant can make a defense. Reads and uploads are different components, and your read appears to be the most convincing of all, obstruction with alcohol detected? Your friend with the alleged sober living house could be a credible witness, but if I were the judge I would have paid you a visit the night in question. Personally rather let a derelict go than convict the innocent, but I can't stand the derelicts these judges deal with on a daily basis, creates ZEAL.
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