>>>>”If you are stopped by a Fort Worth police officer and you are arrested for DWI, we are going to get a sample,”
This is only if you are arrested for it though, right? Is this really a bad thing?
Yeah it’s bad. What’s next ? Mandatory random blood draws to see if someone has been using drugs or eating too many Whoppers ?
Generally evidence of some sort of crime occuring is required to arrest, and if they are under arrest, then why violate their bodies?
For me this is some disturbing stuff, forciably withdrawn blood samples to provide evidence of a misdeminor crime?
Riight...not even the Soviets did that, nice to see we are progressing past mere Stalinism....
I would say, yes. Aside from being a violation of the 5th Amendment, considering all the bad bugs that are out there, hepatitis, AIDS, etc., I don't want some high school hall monitor reject with an attitude and a badge touching me with a needle, especially by force. I don't drink, so what happens when they make a mistake, jab me with a dirty needle and I get Hepatitis? Who pays for the treatment, lost wages, etc.?
In Tennessee, if you are suspected of DUI and refuse a Breathalyzer or blood test, you automatically loose your license for 1 year, unless you can prove in court that you were not impaired at the time. I don't know about Texas law regarding this, but loss of license for 1 year seems adequate to me.
I seriously doubt this law will stand up if someone takes it all the way to the SCOTUS.....and probably not the Texas SC....
You can be arrested and detained for anything. Whether or not the charges stick is a matter for the courts.
What this ‘policy’ does is essentially lower the bar for resisting arrest. They are saying that there is no longer any room to assert your 4A rights at the time of arrest.
More than that, if you are cleared of charges, it appears that they are trying to establish precedent for such intrusions on 4A as being reasonable.
You don’t need evidence to arrest. You need evidence to convict. If you resist arrest, they now have charges that WILL stick.
Unfortunately, you will need to state your objection clearly for the camera, or for any other witnesses, and then submit to the intrusion, and then try to file for false arrest later. They are banking on the likelihood you won’t do that.