How are DUI checkpoints legal?

You are driving home from a July 4th fireworks display and you see the traffic backed up ahead. You know of a faster way home by taking a shortcut, so you veer around the car in front of you and turn down a side street to avoid the traffic. Just after doing so you are pulled over by the local police who request to see your driver's license and registration. The police officer goes back to his vehicle to run your license and plates. So much for the shortcut. He comes back and asks you why you were attempting to avoid the checkpoint. Not noticing any signs of intoxication, he returns your driver's license and registration. Are DUI checkpoints legal in the first place?

If kept within limits, DUI checkpoints are legal. Pursuant to applicable case law, brief detentions to check licenses, registrations, and sobriety are legal. The police must be following set procedures for stopping vehicles and cannot randomly chose vehicles to stop based upon the look of the vehicle or its occupants. What about in the above example? Can the police pull over a vehicle if they see the vehicle attempt to avoid the checkpoint? The police would need something more. Although the police could follow a vehicle they see turn off onto a side street, they would have to have another reason to pull over the vehicle, such as a traffic violation for speeding or weaving. However, if a vehicle goes through a checkpoint without stopping, the police can pull over the vehicle immediately.

Can the police go further and set up checkpoints for the purpose of stopping vehicles as part of drug interdiction efforts? After stopping vehicles at the checkpoint can the police, as their primary purpose, look inside your vehicle and have a drug dog conduct a sniff test? The answer is no. In the Supreme Court case of City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, the U.S. Supreme Court banned vehicle checkpoints as part of a drug interdiction effort, holding that vehicle checkpoints as part of general crime control are not authorized. However, one federal court has upheld the use of drug detection dogs at a license and registration stop, Merrett v. Moore, an 11th circuit opinion. It could, however, be argued that the use of drug detection dog makes the license and registration stop a mere pretext for a drug interdiction. For more information on DUI and drug offenses, please visit my website at www.win-law.com