January 15, 2008

• Is this person flying anywhere near India? If so, I have a question I'd like them to ask any random people living in, around or even remotely near a forest. If they can give directions to the ruins of a nearly forgotten plumbing project, all the better.
• Helpful answers only, please.
• Sorry, couldn't resist. I remember a story of someone who owed money for taxes, or a speeding ticket, or something the like. I can't recall if this were a personal account, a web reading or what, but this guy...He was arrested at the airport, held in a military prison for a month until military transportation could be arranged... All in all, he spent something like 2 months being shuffled here and there before even coming before a judge... keep in mind this could be the internet playing tricks on me, but I can't find a google story to match what I heard... I really want to think this is a story my mother in law told me... I recall the whole thing was based on this guy trying to fly somewhere and his name was flagged and he was arrested on the plane. That said, I would NOT tempt fate especially these days. They are looking at EVERYONE closer.
• I'm not allowed to give advice on your particular situation, but I will remind you that warrants are legal tools designed in part to prevent people from absconding and bring them before the required authorities. Given that one of their functions is to prevent people from leaving a jurisdiction, I would expect that airports, whether domestic or not, would be among the first places to be made aware of a warrant's existence. Speaking generally, of course. For advice on your own particular situation, you'd need to sit down with your own lawyer and discuss the situation in a lot more detail than has been presented here.
• According to this http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0703/073103w1.htm "TSA will notify law enforcement authorities of any passenger with an "outstanding state or federal arrest warrant for a crime of violence." I'd say it might depend on the level of the offense...but then again, they don't mess around with DUI business...
• Extremely unlikely that you would have anything to worry about. Extremely. Airlines don't pull people's state records to see if there is an outstanding warrant for a person's arrest. Airport security doesn't do it, either. Are you even sure you have a warrant? In my state under those conditions, you probably wouldn't even have a warrant. You would just not be able to get your driving privileges reinstated until you have complied with the judgment. If you do have a warrant, you are much more likely to run into trouble in a traffic stop in another state. If they run your record, they could discover your warrant from another state and hold you until the other state comes to pick you up from their jail. In my state, they will often give the other state up to ninety days to pick you up and a judge won't set bond for you. That said, I would advise you to clear this situation up as quickly as you possibly can. Will you be caught by people who work for an airline? I would be stunned beyond belief if you were, but I suppose it is not impossible. Would I fly if it were me? I would. I am that confident you have nothing to worry about. But would I advise someone to fly in my professional capacity? No, I would not.
• I realize that the situation here is domestic, so the following advice is not for Simian XY: Don't try to come to Canada from the US with a DUI. There have (regrettably) been many instances now in which a passenger was refused entry. Completely off the topic: my 8th graders today, reading 1984, came across the word "simian". They guessed that it meant ugly. We need public relations help.
• WAIT! You're a TEACHER?! This changes everything. Sorry to be unproductive in this thread, but...but...
• your point being...?
• Well, middle school teachers are a breed apart, though. I was nearly one myself.
• Just reiterating the "Stay on topic" comment above. Off you go kiddies, find another thread.
• So what about FUI? If you have a long overseas flight that is severely delayed on one of the stopovers, and you drink all the duty-free you brought with you and wind up staggering off the plane, does it count that you were foo-eee? Yeah, anybody that teaches someone taller than waist high is a breed apart
• Maybe my personal experience can help, or at least give you some rough guidelines. I got a DUI in 2001, and it took the government five years to get around to my court case, during which time my drivers' license was suspended/revoked. I flew across the US twice during this period with no problems. After court, and paying fines (and not meeting probation requirements) I tried to take my drivers' test before visiting my family across the country again (where I planned to acquire a car and drive it back home). No dice- can't take the test without a car. So I flew to see the family, got a car and drove it home crosscountry without a valid license. No legal problems, thank Jah. Took my test for the license the next day and passed. Still am in violation of probation stemming from dui, as far as I know.
• I say fly now before you're forced to fly with a Real ID. I'm with bernockle on this. I think it's highly doubtful that you would have anything to worry about.
• Keeping with the same noncommital wording as the original poster: Last year, with a warrant out for unpaid parking tickets, and with an expired ID (several years expired because of the tickets I mentioned), a person flew from Hawai'i to the mainland, visited three different states via plane travel, then flew back to Hawai'i. The person also flew out of country and back with the warrant still out (but with valid, non-expired ID and passport). (Had the person known about the warrants at the time, they'd have been scared to even step into an airport, but they only found out about the warrant recently. they just knew they couldn't renew.) No guarantees, but I don't think you should have to worry about your plane flight. But I do think its probably a good idea to do what you can to meet the requirements associated with the DUI as soon as can be done. Not just because of the warrant. I'm not passing judgement, I don't know the circumstances (nor am I asking), I just think that in general, it'd be a good idea to meet those requirements, whatever they may be.