DUI Checkpoints:

Constitutionality is

Suspect in Secondary

Screening Stage

Are DUI Checkpoints

Constitutional?

• The constitutionality of DUI checkpoints is questionable once you get past the first screening phase.

• There are serious Fourth Amendment questions brought up in traffic checkpoints.

• Drivers must be aware of their constitutional rights.

Illegal Search and Seizure

• Outside of a traffic checkpoint, police officers must show probable cause for a traffic stop.

• If a driver admits to even having one drink at a checkpoint, some officers will consider this probable cause.

• This then leads to the second phase, which can be considered constitutionally suspect.

Personal Rights v. Rights of

Society

• Courts have ruled that the Fourth Amendment violation can be outweighed by the needs of society.

• Several courts have ruled that traffic checkpoints offer a “minimal” intrusion on the rights of the driver.

• This intrusion is more than minimal when it comes to the secondary phase of the stop.

Additional Evidence

• You will likely not be arrested unless there is some other evidence that can be used against you.

• This does not mean that you have to appear to be driving recklessly. Your Orange County DUI lawyer can help you if you are arrested.

• Speeding, changing lanes without signaling, or any other traffic violation can be used to try to prove probable cause.

Articulable Evidence

• An officer should have articulable evidence that a crime has been committed before proceeding to the second phase.

• While the initial phase has been approved despite its violation of Fourth Amendment rights.

• Without such evidence, a conviction could be overturned on appeal.

Reasonably Unobtrusive

Searches

• In order for any checkpoint to be constitutional, it must be reasonably unobtrusive.

• This means that police cannot search your person or vehicle without probable cause.

• In many cases, the traffic stops must be announced in advance to allow people to choose where to drive.

Understanding Your Rights

• You do not have to answer questions that might point to your guilt.

• Admitting to drinking can be used against you—even if your BAC is below the legal limit.

• You should know your rights before you get behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Defending Your Self

• If you are arrested, your Orange County DUI attorney can help you fight the charges.

• In many cases, officers are found to violate the rights of the individual.

• You have the right to mount a defense that examines all of the police department’s actions before, during, and after your traffic stop.

Contact Us

• www.duilawyerorangecounty.com

• 949-497-1729

• info@simonslaw.com

Image Attribution

• All images from www.pixabay.com.

Description

• Knowing your rights when it comes to a DUI

checkpoint can be extremely important. Contact the

Law Office of Barry T. Simons, your DUI lawyer in

Orange County, if you have any questions about your

rights at a police checkpoint.