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DUI checkpoints are legal because they are (supposed to be) brief and non-intrusive. Meaning, a cop has the right to walk up to you on the street and start asking you questions with the intention establishing "reasonable suspicion" to search you, even if he only approaches you initially because he doesn't like the look of your face, or whatever. It's the same thing in a car. The driver isn't being searched, the cop is trying to establish a reason to search the car or administer a sobriety test via the checkpoint. They still need "reasonable suspicion" to be more thorough, and chatting with drivers at a checkpoint is one way for cops to establish it. If during the chat, the cop notices whiskey bottles clinking around on the floor, the smell of alcohol emanating from the driver, and slurred speech, he now has "reasonable suspicion" that a crime is being committed and can legally search the car and give a sobriety test. There is no expectation of privacy, legally, in a car.
If the checkpoints take so long that drivers are inconvenienced, or cops force drivers to engage in conversation for longer than they want to, by not letting them drive away if they don't feel like talking, then the legality of the stop may be called into question.
You are not obligated to answer any question at a checkpoint.
Drunk driving is a bad idea, just as texting or applying makeup are, but in and of itself should not be a crime.
If you kill, injure or damage the property of another ( i.e. there is a victim),there should be a harsh penalty.
Even if you don't kill, injure, or damage property, the police STILL only have the right of search and seizure if there is a reasonable suspicion of a crime being committed and is agreed upon by a representative of the US, State, or local jurisdiction system. I don't know where I read that.....oh wait, High School Government classes, or Science Fiction 101?
ANY justification of violating the United States Constitution is just that, a justification.
If you know me murdering 25 people who MIGHT commit a crime would save a child or even a whole family from a potential criminal, (blah blah blah) you would still object?
KS_Referee, is driving a motor vehicle with a BAC level greater than .08% a crime in all 50 states? Yes or no please sir. I am not asking you if that person driving the vehicle could potentially kill someone. I am asking you if driving a vehicle with a BAC .08% or greater is against the law? Again, there is only one answer to the question, yes or no.
KS_Referee, is driving a motor vehicle with a BAC level greater than .08% a crime in all 50 states? Yes or no please sir. I am not asking you if that person driving the vehicle could potentially kill someone. I am asking you if driving a vehicle with a BAC .08% or greater is against the law? Again, there is only one answer to the question, yes or no.
The Founder of MADD has spoken out about the repeated lowering of the drinking age.
She's stated that it is repeat offenders with high BAC levels who cause 80% of more of the drunk driving accidents.
A vast majority of the serious risks are alcoholics and drive with a relatively high BAC. They are also repeat offenders.
Technically, they are legal, because the Drivers License is a privilege, and so is the operation of a motor vehicle. As long as they are regulated, then the checkpoint to validate the proper and legal operation of a motor vehicle is legal.
In Ohio, state law says citizens are not required to identify themselves to police officers if no law has been broken. This came up recently when an Ohio resident was illegally detained by police for open-carrying a gun (legal in Ohio).
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