I think the breath test is a means of collecting evidence. The machine does not convict a suspect but a trial may if there is sufficient evidence.
If one was suspected of murder is it a violation of their rights to take finger prints?
I run a geological technical services company in the oilfield. We are required by both our insurance companies and our client oil companies to do regular drug testing of all our employees, including my daughter who makes log copies for the company. I understand testing the people who are actually working on the rigs since the work is extremely dangerous, but making me test my office people is absurd.
A breath/blood test is not used to collect evidence for the arrest but to confirm the probable cause the officer had for making the warrantless arrest. I know this is a little nit-picky but there is a distinction. Many times an arrested suspect will have a zero reading for BAC but the law (here anyways) is for driving “impaired” regardless of the substance, including prescription medication. This determination is made on the street. The conviction only comes after evidence shows a person was driving impaired and any breath/blood test is used as a “totality of the circumstances”. Recent changes in the law provide for a reading above a certain limit to show a presumption of guilt. These changes come from pressure from the Feds in the form of a threat to cut off highway funds just like was done with the seatbelt laws.
Requiring a breath test at a check point just because you are driving is getting closer to going back to what caused the 4th amendment to be written in the first place. IMHO…
Now as a citizen of the U.S.A., I have placed a copy of the United States Constitution
in the Vehicle I drive, WITH me so that I can really get someone’s ire…and read the 4th ammendment
verbatum to someone should I need to…like it will really matter if the chips are down…LOL.
(I do NOT drink alcohol at all and get behind a wheel personally)
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Looks pretty clear to me. A mandatory BAC test is an unreasonable search of one’s person. You could even argue that they are illegally seizing your breath and/or blood.
Many of you seem to forget that when you ACCEPTED the terms of your driving PRIVILEGES you AGREED to submit to all this. IOW you signed part of your rights away. So, drive without a license and THEN you have a case. Let me know how that works out for you.
Don’t ask me how I know all this… Meanwhile, when in doubt, one of these comes in very handy.
Looks pretty clear to me as well. IF you push this envelope in the field, Out come the black
leather gauntlets and the Jack Boots and the mirror shades and you will go right down the Sh*t highway like it or not.
So I need to submit to a breath test before driving to work at 3-4am, what about those cities were the bars are open till 5-7am? At what time will we be allowed to drive without having to submit to a breath test to drive?
Waste of time & money
I could do a pile of blow,mdma on friday and pass by monday. I know guys in the military that go to big raves in europe and never fail a test on monday
But smoke 1 joint and depending on test(s) could show positive for months, or it could a false reading.
Per Se Drug Impairment Laws [ONDCP]
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Arizona: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, mandatory 24 hours jail, up to 6 months upon conviction.
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Delaware: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites.
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Georgia: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, mandatory 24 hours jail, up to 12 months upon conviction.
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Illinois: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, up to 12 months upon conviction.
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Indiana: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, up to 60 days upon conviction.
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Michigan: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, up to 93 days upon conviction, vehicle immobilization for up to 180 days.
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Nevada: 15 ng/ml for cannabis metabolites.
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Ohio: 15 ng/ml for cannabis metabolites, mandatory 72 hours in jail, up to 6 months upon conviction, 6 month to 3 year license suspension.
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Pennsylvania: DUID for cannabis metabolites, amount unclear.
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South Dakota: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites for persons under the age of 21.
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Utah: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, mandatory 48 hours jail, up to 6 months upon conviction.
Cannabis metabolites are funny things; they don’t eliminate from the body in any predictable fashion. In fact, when you think about it, a metabolite is produced when the body metabolizes, or breaks down, a substance. The presence of metabolites for THC tells you the body has already broken down the THC! You could actually call a urine screening for metabolites a non-impairment test!
No in Fla I have the RIGHT to refuse but I will lose my DL for 1yr.
Unless I’m certain chief of police, even with video showing him driving offroad and refusing the test(s) he had all charges dropped. Funny how that works
http://www.policeone.com/news/51431-madd-outraged-ponce-inlet-police-chiefs-dui-dismissed
Many years ago, I had just hired a new employee and invited him to a party at my house. When he showed up, I handed him a joint and said “Here’s the company drug test”!
Still Hiring? :
Closed the biz last summer…sorry! 
Did he continue to work for you?
(emphasis mine)
I think you’re missing the point of having a judge on the scene, which is that he issues a warrant, authorizing the police to search your person and seize evidence. The constitutional question here is not in the definition of “searches and seizures”, but of “probably cause”.
That’s not always the case at check points and when it is, it can easily be abused. I don’t want to see drunk drivers running around hurting people either. However, in a free society, some things aren’t perfect, but in the end it’s worth the sacrifices. .
This thread is crazy. You Drink too much and Drive you go through a DUI check point you get nailed. You have a beer with dinner you drive you don’t get nailed. You don’t drink at all and you drive you don’t get nailed. So who cares if you have to breath into a tube. If it gets 1 drunk driver off the streets and possibly saves one person then deal. That person saved can be your family. I personally will only have 1 or 2 at the most for a whole evening if i am driving. I would have no problem blowing into a tube or giving my blood(ok maybe not blood i hate needles lol!). It has nothing to do with freedom it has to do with safety and that is law enforcements job.
Also like others have said you gave up the right to decline a test when you got a license.
If you worry about this then I personally wouldn’t want you on the road cause obviously you may have a problem with potentially drinking and driving.
GISBREWMASTER
I rarely drink and drive, but if I do my drinking is very limited. Nonetheless, I would decline the initial BAC and force the warrant and blood test.
I’m still trying to figure out if Cap knows exactly what he said.
As far as the DUI checkpoints go - I freaking hate them. But I hate drunk drivers even worse.
It’s a sad mess. The moral is stay off the road if you’ve been drinking alcohol. Take a cab if you must and have a lawyer you can call- which is what you do instead of answer questions.
I’ve some friends who got busted and their lives were devastated. They shouldn’t have been driving and they paid a hefty price in money, time and reputation. One lost their job. They all now have criminal records.
That being said I don’t think the threat of searches and seizures will stop very many people from getting behind the wheel. What it will do is acquaint them with the judicial system when they get arrested.
Then I guess you would have no problem with The Man coming into your house, checking your fridge, food pantry, computer, cell phone, bank records, inquiring about your sex habits, checking how many times a week you eat at McDonald’s, make sure your tub has some sort of non-slip material, fine you for being over the gov’t mandated BMI…just to keep you safe. Beware, its creeping up on you, a little at a time.
And no, Tubercle is not some paranoid conspiracy theorist; just old enough to have seen a lot of change and knows enough about history to know it can happen.