The Constitutionality of Sobriety Checkpoints

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:01:08 GMT

Sobriety checkpoints are legal in many states. Each jurisdiction has its own way of conducting sobriety checks on drivers of motor vehicles. However, they all have the same public safety goal of trying to prevent drunk driving.

Many jurisdictions set up checkpoints late at night and on the weekends when they believe that the greatest number of drunk drivers will be on the roads. Some jurisdictions stop cars at predetermined intervals. For example, every 8th car that drives by will be stopped and the driver will be asked to take a breathalyzer test or a battery of mental and physical exercises to determine whether the driver is intoxicated. Other jurisdictions test every driver that passes the checkpoint with a fast breathalyzer test.

Which Constitutional Rights Are At Issue?

The authorities need to weigh the important public safety need to prevent drunk driving with the constitutional rights of the individual to not be searched without reasonable suspicion and to be free from self incrimination.

Do Sobriety Checkpoints Violate the Driver’s Constitutional Rights?

The United States Supreme Court has found that sobriety checkpoints can be constitutional if they meet certain requirements. The Court has found that the state interest in reducing drunk driving outweighs the minor infringement on a driver’s constitutional rights.

In order for the checkpoints to be constitutional there must be clear guidelines that are carefully followed by the legal authorities. The U.S. Supreme Court has left it up to each individual state to develop these guidelines. In California, for example, the state supreme court has held that the decisions about where to set up sobriety checkpoints and about which cars to stop (i.e. every car, every sixth car, etc) must be made by supervisors prior to officers setting up the checkpoints. The sites selected should be in areas that have a high incidence of drunk driving. Further, the site should be publicized and the length of each stop should be minimized, in addition to other requirements that the court developed to protect the rights of each driver as well as the general public.

The U.S. Supreme Court had dissenting opinions that disagree with the ruling that sobriety checkpoints can be constitutional. Likewise, several states including Michigan and Texas have found that sobriety checkpoints violate their state constitutions.

Do You Have to Comply with Sobriety Checkpoints?

If the police ask you to stop your car at a sobriety checkpoint, or anywhere else, then you must comply. However, some states, such as Connecticut, have found that drivers do not have to answer questions such as, “Have you been drinking?” because to force drivers to do so would violate their Fifth Amendment constitutional right against self incrimination. Similarly, a driver might not have to comply with a field sobriety test (FST). However, in Connecticut and other states, the driver would have to comply with the request to take a breathalyzer test since, by law, drivers licenses are conditioned upon drivers’ cooperation with taking a breathalyzer test when requested by law enforcement.

Drunk driving continues to be a serious public safety problem on America’s roads and highways. Sobriety checkpoints are meant to minimize the danger of drunk driving by catching people who commit this crime and by deterring others from driving while under the influence of alcohol. Therefore, it is important to know whether these types of checkpoints are legal in your state and what your rights are if you are stopped at a sobriety checkpoint.

For more information on sobriety checkpoints, contact a DUI attorney today.

Possible Penalties for Drunk Driving

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:52:10 GMT

The possible penalties for driving while intoxicated (DWI, also known as driving under the influence, DUI) vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. However, the penalties are usually progressive and become more severe for each repeat offense. The penalties are imposed if a driver of a motor vehicle is caught and convicted of driving with a blood alcohol level that is above the state’s blood alcohol limit. While states are free to define their own acceptable levels of blood alcohol content, congress has established a level of 0.08 as the limit and states who wish to receive the maximum possible amounts of federal highway funds must comply with that limit.

If a driver is over the legal limit then the driver might be facing suspension of his or her license, a fine, jail time or a combination of the three penalties. While each state is different, there are some common trends.

Losing the Right to Drive

When you first got your driver’s license as a teenager, your parents may have often repeated that driving is a privilege, not a right. Well, the state concurs with their assessment that driving is a privilege, not a right. Therefore, many states make licenses conditional on compliance with certain rules and regulations. For example, a driver’s license may be suspended in many states if a driver refuses to cooperate with a breathalyzer or field sobriety test.

Drivers who cooperate with the police and who are found to have blood alcohol contents above the legal limits may also face license suspensions. While the time of the punishment differs from state to state and from case to case, many states impose a 1 year license suspension for the first offense, a 3 year license suspension for the second offense and a 5 year suspension for the third offense.

Financial Penalties

The court may impose a fine on a driver who is found guilty of drunk driving. The fines usually range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. However, drivers should be aware that there are other financial penalties for drunk driving. The driver will also need to pay court and attorney costs as well as any property damage and medical bills associated with his or her actions. Further, and perhaps most significantly, the driver’s automobile insurance rates are likely to skyrocket and that additional cost will recur annually.

Prison Time

Some states impose prison time, particularly on repeat offenders.

Other Penalties

A judge may include other penalties in the sentence as well. In some states, such as California an ignition interlock device may be required in the driver’s vehicle. This type of device requires the driver to do a breath test to measure his or her blood alcohol level before the car will start.

Many states also require drivers to participate in mandatory alcohol education and prevention programs and in some cases to seek treatment for alcohol abuse. Judges may also impose sentences of community service on drivers who operated a vehicle while intoxicated

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is a serious offense that endangers the public safety. Accordingly, every state has provided judges with an array of penalties to impose on drivers convicted of this type of offense.

The Crime of Drunk Driving

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:53:27 GMT

The definition of drunk driving is left up to each individual state. Each state decides the level at which a driver’s blood alcohol content is too high to safely operate a motor vehicle.

When is a Driver Drunk?

While it is the right of every state to define drunk driving and acceptable blood alcohol levels for that state, Congress has influenced many states to adopt the same standard. States that want to receive the maximum amount of federal highway funding must adopt a drunk driving standard that presumes any blood alcohol content above 0.08% to be considered too drunk to drive. Most states comply with this initiative.

Many states also have lower levels of permissible blood alcohol content for certain classes of drivers. For example, many states have limits as low as 0.04% for commercial drivers and even lower limits for drivers under the legal drinking age of 21.

If a driver is found to have a blood alcohol content level at or above the state threshold then the driver is presumptively guilty of drunk driving and can be arrested.

Stopping a Driver for Suspected Drunk Driving

In order to determine if a driver is drunk, according to the state’s legal definition of drunk driving, the police must gather evidence. This can be done in a number of ways.

First, the police may request that the driver stop the vehicle. The police can make that request randomly by setting up drunk driving checkpoints and stopping every predetermined number of cars (for example, every 8^th car).

The police may also request that an individual driver pull over if they have a reasonable suspicion that the driver might be intoxicated. For example, they might see the driver driving erratically or they may have received a report from another motorist that a particular car is driving erratically. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed a list of things that might indicate that a driver is drunk. That list includes, turning with a wide radius, straddling the painted lines on the roadway, weaving, appearing to be drunk, striking or almost striking another vehicle, swerving, driving on the wrong side of the road and, braking erratically. These types of things may enter into an officer’s determination of whether or not he or she has reasonable suspicion to stop a driver for drunk driving.

Sometimes, the police will pull a driver over for another suspected traffic violation. For example, the officer might notice a driver speeding. If the officer notices evidence that might indicate that the driver is intoxicated when he approaches the vehicle then the officer could proceed as if the driver is suspected of drunk driving Such evidence might include the smell of alcohol on the driver’s breath or open alcohol containers in the car, among other things.

Gathering Evidence

Once the driver has been stopped then the police need to gather evidence to determine if the driver is drunk according to state law. The first step in this process is usually a visual examination of the driver. If the driver appears drunk then the officer may conduct field sobriety tests (such as reciting the alphabet, standing on one leg) and a breathalyzer test.

If based on the information collected, the officer believes that the driver is drunk then the officer will arrest the driver and take him to the police station for a chemical test to determine his or her blood alcohol content level. Then the case will proceed or the charges will be dropped according to the findings of the blood test.

What is aggravated DUI?

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:02:00 GMT

Aggravated DUI, also known as “extreme DUI” or “felony DUI” in some states, is a more serious DUI charge that can result from certain aggravating circumstances surrounding the incident that led to the charge. While a first DUI conviction is typically a misdemeanor under most states’ DUI laws, aggravated DUI constitutes a felony charge, which necessarily results in harsher punishments for drivers convicted of aggravated DUI.

One common circumstance that leads to an aggravated DUI charge is when the intoxicated driver has an extremely high blood alcohol level (BAC). While the typical DUI charge involves a driver with a BAC of 0.08 or higher, an aggravated DUI charge involves a driver with a much higher BAC. The exact level of a driver’s BAC required for an aggravated DUI charge varies from state to state, but aggravated DUI laws usually require that a driver have a BAC of 0.15 to 0.18 or more.

Another factor that may result in an aggravated DUI charge is the involvement of minor children in the incident that led to the DUI charge. In many states, if you are driving with a BAC of 0.08 or more and you have a minor child in the vehicle with you, you may be charged with aggravated DUI. Other states’ aggravated DUI laws include situations where a bus driver is driving while intoxicated, or when a legally intoxicated driver is stopped while driving in a school zone. An aggravated DUI charge might also occur if a child was seriously injured or killed as a result of the incident.

There are a variety of other factors that might lead to an aggravated DUI charge and/or conviction. If a driver charged with DUI is driving with no valid driver’s license, he or she could face an aggravated DUI charge in some states. If driver charged with DUI causes another person to be seriously or fatally injured, or causes extensive property damage as a result of the incident, he or she could be charged with aggravated DUI. Furthermore, if a driver is legally intoxicated and has had multiple DUI convictions, particularly within a certain timeframe, he or she may be subject to an aggravated DUI charge.

A conviction for aggravated DUI can result in far more serious penalties than a regular DUI charge, which is typically a misdemeanor. Aggravated DUI is likely to be a felony charge in most cases, which places a permanent black mark on your criminal record that may disqualify you for some jobs, among other things. Since it is a felony charge, aggravated DUI convictions tend to result at least some minimum period of incarceration, community service hours, a lengthy period of probation, substantial fines and/or costs, a substantial period during which his or her driver’s license is suspended or revoked, and the mandatory installation of an ignition interlock device in any vehicle that he or she drives for a period of time. In some states, depending on the circumstances, you could even have your vehicle confiscated.

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