CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- People caught drinking and driving in North Carolina will find it tougher to beat the case in court thanks to a new law that went into effect Friday.

The law is one of the toughest in the country, and it makes it easier for prosecutors to get convictions in driving while impaired cases.

Many people, particularly those in groups like Mothers Against Drinking and Driving, have felt that drunken drivers get caught out on the roads, only to get away in the courts.

Robert Yoho supports the new law. He lost his oldest son to a drunken driver two years ago. Since then he’s been telling anyone who’ll listen about the pain caused by drinking and driving, as well as pushing for the new, tougher law that essentially makes a blood alcohol reading of 0.08 a guilty verdict.

Yoho considers the change a victory for him.

“Everybody knows they make that choice (to drink and drive),” he said.

But the new legislation is already raising questions.

“We’ve gone too far,” said Bill Powers, a defense attorney. “No one likes drunk driving. I don’t like drunk driving. I’m married, I have a child.”

Powers says the law goes too far because it short-circuits a legal system that is supposed to play out in the courtroom.

“Really we don't need judges anymore. We don't need juries anymore. They can just go to court and have to find them guilty without listening to the facts,” he said.

Bruce Lillie, an assistant district attorney, says he disagrees.

Lillie supervises the prosecutors who handle driving while impaired cases in Mecklenburg County. He says the new law is one of the toughest in the country, but it is not taking anyone's rights out of the courtroom.

“What it's doing is it is closing loopholes – guilty or not guilty,” he said.

Prosecutors say you can still come to court and challenge how a DWI arrest was made and whether the machine was accurate, but defense attorneys believe the legislation will probably end up before a judge on constitutional grounds. For now – it’s the law.

That new law also lists more than a hundred drugs, including prescription drugs and their basic ingredients that are enough to find a driver guilty of DWI. It also gives prosecutors the ability to challenge rulings that go against them on technicalities in DWI cases