[Traffic control]

D.U.I. Chokepoint

Maybe MOTHERS AGSINST DRUNK DRIVING really are stronger than the Fourth Anendment

Reviewer Rob

Five people were arrested last week at the November 10 late night DUI checkpoint I was stopped at in Mission Bay, according to this 10 News report. The young female officer who asked me to follow her finger with my eyes as I sat in my driver’s seat and other officers emptied a late model car of its occupants in front of me was attractive and cordial, her tone apologetic as she told me I’d be free to go as soon as they finished with the unfortunate driver ahead of me being given a more thorough sobriety test. Then another officer drove his car out of line as they pulled him aside. I’d like to read the legal justification for DUI checkpoints. Yes, stopping drivers without probable cause can reduce casualties from drunk drivers. But there’s also lots of other ways government can crack down on crime by ignoring Constitutional Rights.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” [Fourth Amendment text, from law.cornell.edu.]