Subcommittee continues broad debate on DUI reform: blood draws, Miranda, body-cam evidence and reclassification of felony DUI

The Senate Judiciary subcommittee resumed a wide-ranging discussion of DUI reform, examining S.52 — which would modernize chemical-testing rules, video evidence procedures and penalties — and related proposals such as S.192, which several public witnesses said should reclassify felony DUI as a nonviolent offense.

Sponsor Senator Davis framed S.52 as an effort to address South Carolina’s high DUI fatality rate and the low conviction rate prosecutors report. In remarks to the subcommittee, Senator Davis said the bill is built on implied-consent principles: if a motorist consents to a chemical test, the search is consensual; if the motorist refuses, officers may seek a warrant or apply other statutory penalties. "There are no United States federal constitutional constraints on the sorts of blood tests that are contemplated by S.52 because those blood tests are contemplated…