How Li-Lo's SCRAM monitoring bracelet works
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Lindsay Lohan was "sentenced" to wearing an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet on Monday. The $1,500 bracelet is just another way that technology
ensures compliance for these sorts of sentences.
Fandango - Movie Tickets OnlineSimilar to much better known monitoring bracelets used to restrict suspects or parolees to certain locations, Lindsay Lohan's ankle bracelet, dubbed SCRAM for Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring, has been available since 2003, and is in use in all states except Hawaii.
Lindsay Lohan's SCRAM ankle bracelet uses the same technology as a Breathalyzer but, naturally, it's hard to get breath from one's ankle. Instead the device samples perspiration on the skin, testing every half hour. Generally once a day, the information is sent to Alcohol Monitoring Systems Inc., which currently makes the only alcohol ankle bracelet.
If the alcohol amount is 0.02 or higher, the company alerts the proper authorities. According to the company, a 180-pound man would register 0.02 if he has two 5-ounce drinks in less than an hour on an empty stomach.
Judge Marsha Revel told Lohan that in order to stay free on bail, she must wear the SCRAM device and she must submit to random drug testing. Revel also restricted Lohan to the L.A. area, which will interfere with a Texas film that Lohan is involved in. Although Revel should realize that Lohan's job options of late have been few and far between, she basically said "tough luck" to the troubled actress, who is still under probation after incidents in 2007.