For the uninitiated, DUI checkpoints, also known as sobriety
checkpoints, are roadblocks set up by the police under the auspices of catching
for drunk drivers. Yes, the kind of thing you expect to encounter during a
manhunt when a serial killer escapes from prison or maybe when a child is
kidnapped.
When I say these roadblocks are set up “under the auspices
of catching drunk drivers” I am referring to the fact that the majority of
tickets, arrests and impounds resulting from many of these checkpoint are for
infractions other than intoxication. Sobriety checkpoints are an excuse to stop
every driver without probable cause or reasonable suspicion.
Even if you never personally encounter a sobriety
checkpoint, you are still affected. DUI roadblocks are huge revenue generators.
Local governments make all kinds of money off of the tickets and impounds that
result from the non-dui infractions, and they receive federal grants to conduct
the checkpoints. So, even if you live in a state which does not allow sobriety
checkpoints, your tax dollars still go to fund them.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that even though these
checkpoints violate our constitutional rights, it’s just a small violation and
offset by the need to stop drunk drivers, so it’s permissible. Some states,
however, have taken a stand for your most basic rights and made their own laws
or declared that it is against state constitutions to conduct the vile
roadblocks.
You can learn more and find out if you live in one of these
states by reading my article DUI
Checkpoints Are Illegal in 12 States.
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