Law: Is the Party Finally Over?

Crackdown on drunken drivers raises hopes—and doubts

In a current series of advertisements, F. Lee Bailey has been speaking up for the quality of his favorite vodka. Last week the noted Boston attorney found himself speaking instead for the quality of his sobriety and doing it in an unfamiliar place: the witness stand. On trial for drunken driving in San Francisco, Bailey faced a vigorous prosecution featuring seven police witnesses. Such cases usually take three days; Bailey's is in its third week. Fumed the defendant: "It's being tried like a murder case. It's a cause celebre." The hardball prosecution is one example—though...