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Of course driving a vehicle with a BAC .08% or greater is illegal. What is equally illegal and blatantly unconstitutional is for the police to pull you over without suspicion or probable cause to believe that you have committed a crime, AND for the very purpose of determining whether or not you may have committed a crime.
My only question to YOU is, Do you support the Constitution, or do you oppose the Constitution? You can't have it both ways.
You can't say I support the Constitution and it's prohibition of slavery unless the government can make a clear case why some minor violations of the Constitution, which may allow slavery would be in the best interest of the general public, therefore the prohibition of slavery in the Constitution doesn't necessarily apply in some cases.
Nor can you make that case for the 4th Amendment. The 4th Amendment was specifically written to LIMIT the power of government. Yet your contention is sometimes the government can justify not obeying that limit placed upon them by the Constitution, and that justification, when argued it would benefit the public at large, is all the government needs to not obey the limits of the Constitution upon government. WTF?
This whole situation makes no sense.
I support the constitution. Now the slippery slope that sleaze ass attorneys and others have done imo and remember it is MY OPINION, have twisted this country into constant litigation. Where the needs of a few outweigh the needs of many. I don't have a problem with checkpoints for asking a persons legal status when entering this country. I don't have a problem with checkpoints for drunk drivers, (just drunk driving, no check warrants, etc). I understand every point you make for the constitution, ie: respect ALL of it, or NONE of it. My last point. Taxes. We pay them. I hate what some of the money goes too, ie: Healthcare for illegals, unemployment benefits for 5-6 yrs, etc. Yep, I hate that. Some hate the money for making nukes, military etc. So KS, you and I, along with eveyone else have our opinions on how to interpet the constitution, not just believe and enforce it.
You said " This whole situation makes no sense" KS one of the flaws of life is we are not perfect. Life makes no sense. Dude their is no manual for life, and how we should live it so as to not hurt oneself or others. (don't insert the bible that is another topic) What the F is wrong with people? Life is a biach. It is that Frickin simple. Who ever said life is full of rainbows and sunshine is well you know, delusional. Everyday I know crap is going to happen, I will do my best to plow through with a smile, take care of my friends and family, not hurt fellow man, and make a difference while I am here. I will attempt to enjoy all the pleasures life offers. Then die. Thats it. No more nothing else.
Last edited by Iluvmycountry; 06-02-2013 at 01:11 PM..
I don't have a problem with checkpoints for drunk drivers, (just drunk driving, no check warrants, etc).
What about searching everyone to make sure they don't have a dead body, a ton of weapons, or some kid who's been kidnapped in their trunk? Don't you care about these crimes too? I say, if you're going to throw out the Constitution for the sake of public safety, you might as well go all out. Might as well install cameras in everyone's house next. There's no point in only defending the Fourth Amendment some of the time.
What is your opinion of DUI checkpoints? Do you feel they violate the 4th amendment?
My opinion of checkpoints for DUI is they are necessary because too many people fail the realize what a small amount of alcohol it takes to impair your judgement and driving ability. There are also people who feel the laws of the land should not apply to them. I see nothing in the 4th amendment that checkpoints would violate. The 4th amendment states, in part: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated" what does this have to do with operating a motor vehicle while drunk? Stop and think about it, if it were against the Constitution to operate checkpoints, we would never have checkpoints.
The 4th amendment states, in part: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated" what does this have to do with operating a motor vehicle while drunk? Stop and think about it,
You first.
The stop alone is a seizure, as explained here. And they're very open about the fact that these and the searches are often not prompted by any reasonable suspicion of criminal activity or violation. They've come right out and told us they'll stop "every car, every third car, every fifth car, etc." Hence, these are unreasonable searches and seizures*. A police officer pulling someone over on the highway in his vehicle with no reason to suspect criminal activity or a violation would be recognized as an unlawful stop by pretty much every sort of court. That's because they know it isn't constitutionally permissable.
*Now, I suspect that some have adopted an unworkable definition of the word "unreasonable" for the sake of their personal agendas. Instead of conceding that it must mean "without reason to suspect the specific person to be stopped and searched of criminal activity or a violation", it would seem they are in favor of a much more subjective usage. Essentially, this is "Does it make sense?" They talk of how many people's lives could be saved or the prevention of other crimes vs. their own personal assessment of just how "small" the inconvenience or loss of privacy is. The problem is that this renders the Fourth Amendment pointless, as any intrusion on one's privacy just might uncover evidence of a crime and even prevent one altogether. As an example, the police may up and decide to raid your home in the off-chance you've kidnapped some child and plan to kill him/her. Even though they have absolutely no reason to suspect you in particular of such a crime, they consider your inconvenience and temporary loss of privacy worth the undeniably noble cause. And they can do this with anything, so long as we tolerate these exceptions to the protection the Fourth Amendment was meant to offer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nite Ryder
if it were against the Constitution to operate checkpoints, we would never have checkpoints.
In a perfect world, you'd be right. There have been Courts and many judges that have spoken against this practice, identifying it as unconstitutional. Even a segment of the U.S. Supreme Court has made this point. Unfortunately, even the Supreme Court is fallible, and at least for the time being it has ruled in a 6-3 split ruling that sobriety checkpoints are either not unconstitutional or worth the infringement on people's rights.
Now, why do some of the people who are against unlawful stops defend DUI checkpoints? Well, we've been asking that all along, and haven't gotten one answer that makes a lick of sense. Best I can figure, there is an illusion of legitimacy that comes with placing a building at a site, no matter how small. People see these checkpoints and subconsciously just assume this is not to be questioned, whereas they see an individual officer get out of this police car and are more quick to suspect him as an individual of wrongdoing. But building or no, it's really the same concept as an unlawful stop.
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Are DUI Checkpoints Unconstitutional??
