DUI Checkpoint -- Oath Violators

Liveleak.com ^ | 14 Dec 2013 | westerberg

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

“You can get a DUI for being asleep in your PARKED car...”

That happened to Debra Barone (as played by Patricia Heaton) on an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

[Graybeard58]

Lomg but interesting link you provided as to why no one should ever voluntarily talk to the police, innocent or not. Here is the link reposted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc

[AppyPappy]

People don’t drive drunk. That’s just an urban legend, like the Knockout Game.

[DariusBane]

I don’t believe that anybody has challenged the proposition that people drive drunk.

The question is what to do about it. How much liberty will you give up in return for how risk transferred or managed? How to manage the risk.

If the goal is to eliminate drunk driving I can make that happen. I can do that with fewer cops, fewer judges, fewer assistant D.A.’s, fewer laws on the books, no ignition lock out devices, fewer probation officers. It will cost less and be more effective and less intrusive.

Eliminate DUI laws. No more BAC thresholds UNTIL an accident occurs. Once an accident occurs and a .10 BAC level is detected no more drivers license for life. If a fatality is involved then the charge is murder one. That way no repeat offenders and the penalty is so stiff nobody will risk it.

That will eliminate the jobs of thousands of cops, thousands of assistant D.A.’s, close courtrooms, eliminate thousands of law firms. Problem solved, but less control for the state and less money. So it will never happen.

[AppyPappy]

So you want to charge people for First Degree Murder for an “accident”? How do you know the alcohol caused the accident? What if the person refused to submit to the test? Do they walk?

[DariusBane]

I didn’t say for an accident. I said that for a fatality. An accident with property damage you lose your license to drive for life.

[DariusBane]

An accident is probable cause for a BAC. That is the only time probable cause for a BAC test could apply.

[dalereed]

“The real beef is with MADD”

DAMM (Drunks Against Mad Mothers) needs to organize better!!

[Svartalfiar]

Hmm.. that is one of the oddest maps I’ve seen in which states are which color

[Svartalfiar]

You can get a DUI for being asleep in your PARKED car with the keys in the ignition. Even though you may not have actually driven drunk, they’ll bust you anyway. It is a racket.

Yea, I got real "lucky" on that one. Dallas PD caught me asleep in my car after drinking a bunch, since I didn't want to drive home. They were nice enough to only charge me with a PI, not a DUI. Which once in court, I actually managed to get dismissed, after I paid a ~$250 fine.

[Svartalfiar]

Of course, my keys were in my pocket, not the ignition..

[cripplecreek]

From wikipedia

The Michigan Supreme Court had found sobriety roadblocks to be a violation of the Fourth Amendment. However, by a 6-3 decision in Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz (1990), the United States Supreme Court found properly conducted sobriety checkpoints to be constitutional.

In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote, "In sum, the balance of the State's interest in preventing drunken driving, the extent to which this system can reasonably be said to advance that interest, and the degree of intrusion upon individual motorists who are briefly stopped, weighs in favor of the state program. We therefore hold that it is consistent with the Fourth Amendment."

Dissenting justices argued against this conclusion. Justice Stevens argued that the checkpoints were not reasonably effective, writing that "the findings of the trial court, based on an extensive record and affirmed by the Michigan Court of Appeals, indicate that the net effect of sobriety checkpoints on traffic safety is infinitesimal and possibly negative."

Further, Justice Brennan in his dissenting opinion argued that the police had failed to show that the checkpoint seizures were a necessary tool and worth the intrusion on individual privacy. "That stopping every car might make it easier to prevent drunken driving...is an insufficient justification for abandoning the requirement of individualized suspicion," he insisted.

I think any attempt to bring it back here would be killed by a referendum in the very next election. They just aren't an effective means of catching drunk drivers in my opinion. Back in my drinking days they would have had to put checkpoints on deserted back roads to catch me.

[jmacusa]

Try telling some cop he doesn’t have the right to search your car. Don’t work like that here in Jersey. If the ‘’Man’’ wants to ‘’toss’’ your car, he does it. If you want to start playing ‘’lawyer’’ it’s time for the cuffs and in the back seat you go. And the State Police here? A law unto themselves.

[DariusBane]

I know. It is dangerous to assert The Bill of Rights in this Land of Liberty.

We have fallen so far so fast.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Little rhyme or reason, some of the most screamingly liberal states and some of the most staunchly conservative ones. The mushy middle seems to be the worst offenders here.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Sometimes I wonder if they deserve one another.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Since the purported idea is to catch someone too impaired to drive, why aren’t portable driving simulators, or other OBJECTIVE measurements of reaction capability, furnished. Then it would not matter if the person was too sick or too drunk or on a medication.

There’s way more wink and nod in the system than needs to be, and pun may or may not be intended.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

More reasons not to live in police state New Jersey.

[Dr.Deth]

I would wager there are drunk drivers out there that have better driving skills than the average soccer mom.

I would bet real fiat dollars I could drive better at .20 than one of these dingbats with a cellphone.

[Finny]

They should ALL be green.