Tim Walz was arrested once in 1995 for DUI — he gave up drinking, but some still judge him for it three decades later

“Tim Walz’s career as a teacher was almost derailed in 1995, when he was arrested for driving drunk in Nebraska. Then a 31-year-old teacher and a football coach, Walz had been drinking and watching college football with friends on a Saturday night in September, before he tried to drive home. When a police car signaled for him to pull over, Walz sped up, driving 95 miles per hour before he finally stopped. His initial blood alcohol level was .128—above the legal limit. Months later, he pleaded guilty to reckless driving, a misdemeanor, lost his license for 90 days, and paid a fine.

“Walz quit drinking and resigned from coaching the Alliance High School football team. He offered to resign from teaching altogether, but the principal talked him out of it. A year later, Tim and Gwen Walz moved to Minnesota in search of a fresh start, where Walz taught high school and coached football at Mankato West High School for 20 years. In a 2018 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Walz described his arrest as a ‘gut check moment,’ when he recommitted to being a role model to his students. …

Walz described his arrest as a ‘gut check moment,’ when he recommitted to being a role model to his students.

“Misdemeanor arrests are just so common in this country. The best estimate is that 13 million people are charged with misdemeanors each year. And the fact that this old DUI comes up every time Walz pursues a new professional opportunity highlights a problem faced by many Americans: Once a person has a misdemeanor conviction, the collateral consequences can last for life.

“This is no small issue, though it receives little attention. It is difficult to know precisely how many people have misdemeanor convictions because the data is shoddy, but the number is in the tens of millions. Experts estimate that misdemeanors account for 80 percent of the crimes charged in the United States.

“Misdemeanor offenses come in all shapes and sizes, but they are generally defined as petty crimes, punishable by up to one year in prison. They can be as minor as failing to wear a seat belt, or as significant as punching someone in the eye or making a threat. Punishment for misdemeanors also varies widely—from fines (like the one that Tim Walz paid) to probation, to short stints in jail. But the most important thing about misdemeanor convictions is that they show up on employment background checks.

“Though they may be common, misdemeanors are deeply stigmatizing: 86 percent of employers use criminal background checks in their hiring process. Often, employers don’t care about the details of an incident—the mere existence of the conviction is enough to make an employer choose a different candidate.

“People charged with misdemeanors are often poor, and prosecution makes them poorer. Court comes with fines and fees, which can lead to a cycle of debt, making it impossible for people to get off of probation. For ‘lucky’ defendants, cases are closed and debts are sold to collection agencies, who hound defendants and ruin their credit scores. Municipalities often have a financial stake in prosecuting low-level crime, because they need the money that is collected from these prosecutions to fund their courts or police departments.”

Read the full article at Slate.com.