Nassau County Reinstates New York DWI Wall of Shame

Photos of those arrested for drunk driving in Nassau County posted on website.

The website with the controversial Wall of Shame, featuring information on motorists accused of driving while intoxicated in Nassau County, New York, has been rebuilt. Last week the site took down the photos, names and communities of 109 people arrested for drunk driving over the Memorial Day weekend.

Nassau County executive Thomas Suozzi said that the Wall was taken down so the names of 9 underage motorists could be removed. The inclusion of the identities of the younger drivers led to angry complaints from parents. Under NY DWI laws, a judge can grant ‘youthful offender’ status to those under the age of 19 and seal their records. Suozzi asked for the underage names to be removed but said it was a mistake to take down the entire listing.

On Thursday the list showed the photos of all those stopped since the beginning of the shaming campaign – but just the names of the 100 from the Memorial Day weekend. That too was apparently a mistake. The county policy is to take down old photos as new batches of arrests are posted, leaving just the names of the offenders. Suozzi clarified that the plan going forward is take down the oldest photos first.

The Wall of Shame has been supported by the state legislator serving the county as a way of reducing incidents of drunk driving in New York.

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