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For an initial courtesy consultation with premier U.S. SUPERLAWYER and "MARYLAND 10 BEST DUI and DWI " defense attorney Charles Jerome Ware, call us at (410) 720-6129 or (410) 730-5016. We can help you.
Legal and practical considerations involving DUI or sobriety checkpoints present complex "blurred lines" law enforcement due process issues. On the one hand, according to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), has ruled that DUI checkpoints are a legal and valid law enforcement tool
[ Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444 (1990)]. On the other hand, police DUI or sobriety checkpoints are not without restrictions, and consequently must be implemented by rules.
For example:
(1) DUI or Sobriety Checkpoint Plans Must Be Vetted and Submitted in Advance for Approval.
The purpose here is to insure that proper legal standards are followed by officers.
(2) Breathalyzer Tests Can Only Be Administered if there is "Reasonable Suspicion " that the suspect is intoxicated. Breathalyzer tests administered without legally particularized suspicion are a clear violation of a person's 4th Amendment rights, and thus illegal.
(3) DUI or Sobriety Checkpoint stops must be RANDOM. Police simply cannot pick-out certain cars they want to stop, detain and question, or use any subjective standard for the stop. Arbitrariness is forbidden and is therefore unlawful.
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