The Scarlett Letters: D-U-I
By Marcelo Torricos
“Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast,—at her, the child of honorable parents,—at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, —at her, who had once been innocent, —as the figure, the body, the reality of sin.”—Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.
Hawthorne was on to something. Although our communities no longer face the societal rigidity of hundreds of years ago, the idea remains: a past mistake can shadow you throughout life and, if it is damning enough, completely eclipse it. It is not the scarlet “A” that is as career crushing and reputation ruining as it once was. Now, those three “scarlet letters” that will always show up on your record, on a background check and can never be removed in South Carolina are D-U-I. Read more about Marcelo’s opinion on South Carolina’s DUI laws here.
