First time offenders as charged under the driving under influence law in San Francisco and the entire Bay Area of California will be fined anywhere between three hundred and ninety dollars to more than a thousand dollars, according to DUI Attorneys in San Francisco. The fine varies depending on the various facts of the case, including the blood alcohol content, if there was any over speeding, if there was any reckless driving and most importantly if there was an accident, leading to personal injury and damage to property. This fine is regardless of any personal injury claim that may be filed by a victim. Such lawsuits are separate from the action initiated by the local policy and the subsequent intervention of the court as per the driving under influence law.

It is possible for first time offenders to waive off some of the fine with community service. In rare instances, especially when the defendant is clearly incapable of paying the fine due to financial limitations, the entire amount may be waived but then the community service would have to be more comprehensive and long drawn. There would be three years of probation at the least for first time offenders who are charged under the civil law and the criminal law. The driving under influence law allows charging a defendant for a civil offense and a criminal offense. The three years of probation can be argued in cases where the blood alcohol content is more acceptable and there was no threat to safety of people on the road or property en route while the defendant was driving under influence.

License suspension is unavoidable unless the defendant can successfully argue against the charges at the Department of Motor Vehicles. This can precede the case moving to court. If a defendant can win the mini trial at the Department of Motor Vehicles and gets the suspension of the driving license revoked, and the charges can be reduced in court, to anything below an actual DUI, no suspension will occur, according to Santa Clara County DUI Attorneys.  If the license is suspended, then a temporary license which is also known as restricted license may be requested and is usually approved so the defendant can move around, get to work and take care of usual responsibilities, after the first 30 days. The actual license remains suspended for a period of six-nine months.

In some cases, first time offenders are required to attend a driving under influence school. There could be a jail term too but that can be contested. The jail term is usually between two days and six months. Most first-time offenders are not jailed. All such penalties or fines and sentences can be substantially harsher for second time offenders. Repeat offenders, who are charged with driving under influence for the third time or more, would be dealt with extreme stringency. Such offenders can be jailed, and the terms or sentences would be longer, according to DUI Lawyers in Stockton CA. The fines would be steeper, and the court will make alcohol education program imperative for the convicted. Repeat offenders are also charged for felony if they have been held driving under influence four times or more, in the last ten years.

The overwhelming majority of people in the United States would report to you that America is very much a two-party political system, run by the Republicans and the Democrats. And while it’s pretty easy to fall into believing that, the truth of the matter is America has always been a multiple party political system – even if (in the grand scheme of things) the Republicans and the Democrats seem to be dominating. Recently though, there has been a major groundswell in support for those that are outside of these two dominant political parties. With more and more of the youth engaging in the world of politics, and feeling as though they aren’t well represented by either of these two more established parties, things are really starting to change as far as the American political landscape is concerned.

You’re interested in learning a little bit more about the history of the Third Party in the US, as well as where things stand today, hopefully you’ll find the information contained in this quick guide to be useful.

Breaking down the history of the Third Party in the United States

As mentioned above, the overwhelming majority of American history has been very much dominated by the Republicans and the Democrats, but America has never really been a two-party political system. In the earliest days of America (the real founding of America) there weren’t even Republicans or Democrats – but instead were Federalists and Democratic Republicans, as well as the Whig party. The Federalist party somewhat petered out in 1816, it wasn’t long until the Whig party transformed into the Democrat party that we know today. The Republican Party as it is known now wasn’t really “born” until about 1856, and that was only because it was the party that was established to fight against slavery.

Third parties in the American political system haven’t always done terribly, either. In 1912, for example, the Republicans wouldn’t give their presidential nod to Theodore Roosevelt, so he led the Progressive Party – and received more than 4 million popular votes (almost 30% of all votes cast).

Why doesn’t the Third Party ever seem to “breakthrough”?

There are a number of different reasons as to why the Third Party never really seems to breakthrough on the national political landscape, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that people are simply conditioned – through a variety of different approaches, some of them cultural, some of them historical, and some of them through the mass media – to fall in line with one of the two major parties. Most people are now starting to realize that this has been nothing but a game of hot potato between these two parties, with both of them much more closely aligned and they would have us believe. This is helped to lead the wellspring of support behind new third parties – such as the Libertarian party – and just might change the face of the American political landscape once again.

Current Third Parties in the United States

There are a number of other parties involved on the national political landscape in America today, and all of them could qualify as Third Parties. You have the Libertarian party, the Green Party, the Constitution Party, the Tea Party, the Communist Party, the Socialist party…and that’s only the tip of the iceberg! All of them have quite a bit of support, but all of them are a lot more fractured than the major Democrat and Republican parties are currently. The Internet, social media, and new forms of communication that make it effortless to reach the masses are changing this stranglehold, however, and going to be very interesting to see how the future of American politics transforms in the next two or three decades.

The future of the American political landscape

At the end of the day, it is unlikely that any Third Party is going to be able to break into the “mainstream” of American politics just yet. However, the support for Third Party candidates is definitely blossoming, so much so that these third-party candidates are “bleeding” into the Democrat and Republican parties in an effort to win more mainstream support. It shouldn’t be all that long until we are looking at a multiparty system as was intended in the first place!

It should come as no surprise to anyone in America (or anywhere else, for that matter) that modern legal systems are incredibly complex, convoluted, and difficult to discern without years and years of education and research designed solely at understanding and interpreting the law – and even then, there are some lawyers that are top-notch and a lot of lawyers that really struggle. Some would argue that the American legal system is intentionally convoluted, a web of laws that bleed into one another that makes it possible for any side to come out on top depending upon the skills of the car accident lawyer in Redding that they hire compared to the skills of the lawyer the other side hires.

At any rate, pretty much everyone would agree that there needs to be some reining in of the laws on the books and the way that we are able to interpret them. This is why tort reform is such a hot topic in the United States, one of the most contentious and hotly fought topics – not only between lawyers that either support or oppose tort reform, but also legal experts, judges, corporations, individuals, and politicians at pretty much every level. It’s interesting to see how both of the major parties feel about tort reform (the Democrats and the Republicans, anyway), but it is especially interesting to uncover how third parties in the American political system feel about these proposed reforms as well. Let’s break down some of the information.

What exactly is Tort Reform, anyway?

Reform tort reform is essentially this: Right now, individuals that file suits in the United States are pretty much able to ask for any kind of compensation that they like as it pertains to personal injury, assuming it is reasonable. Tort reform would overhaul the way that these cases are handled, establishing procedural limits on not only the ability to file claims but also capping the amount of money that can be awarded as damages.

Tort reform in the United States would mean that you may or may not have the opportunity to pursue legal damages after suffering a personal injury, and even if you were able to, you would only be able to ask for a specific amount that was capped arbitrarily. It’s now easy to see why this is such a hotly contested issue.

How does tort reform work in our current political landscape?

As it sits right now, tort reform hasn’t been fully implemented in the United States – though there are a considerable amount of people that are doing everything in their power to bring it to bear. According to those that would like to see tort reform, more than 15 million lawsuits filed in the United States each year are “frivolous”, the kinds of lawsuits that are doing nothing more than gumming up the wheels of justice and slowing down due process for those that actually need to take advantage of the legal system. Those that oppose tort reform believe that these kinds of changes are nothing more than a form of corporate welfare, designed specifically to allow big businesses, big corporations, and special interest groups to do anything and everything they please, understanding that they will only have to face limited consequences in the future.

How do third parties feel about tort reform?

It’s impossible to describe exactly how all of the different third-party options in the United States feel about tort reform, if only because there are so many “splinter parties” on all sides of the political spectrum. Those that are on the left side of the political spectrum – leaning more towards the Democratic ideals – are usually in opposition of tort reform, while those that are on the right side of the political spectrum – leaning more towards the Republican ideals – are usually supportive. It isn’t always accurate to paint these third parties with quite as broad a brush, but the most part this is an accurate representation.

What’s the future hold for American politics as far as tort reform is concerned?

It is impossible to know exactly how things are going to shake out in regards to tort reform in the United States, but the odds of it actually being implemented are looking rather slim to none, at least while a Democrat controls the White House. This has a lot to do with the litigious culture of the American population in general, but also has a lot to do with the legal industry, lawyers and their salaries, and the very fabric of the Constitution and individual rights in general.