Do Sobriety Checkpoints Violate the Driver’s Constitutional Rights?
The United States Supreme Court has found that sobriety checkpoints can be constitutional if they meet certain requirements. The Court has found that the state interest in reducing drunk driving outweighs the minor infringement on a driver’s constitutional rights. In order for the checkpoints to be constitutional there must be clear guidelines that are carefully followed by the legal authorities. The U.S. Supreme Court has left it up to each individual state to develop these guidelines. In California, for example, the state supreme court has held that the decisions about where to set up sobriety checkpoints and about which cars to stop (i.e. every car, every sixth car, etc) must be made by supervisors prior to officers setting up the checkpoints. The sites selected should be in areas that have a high incidence of drunk driving. Further, the site should be publicized and the length of each stop should be minimized, in addition to other requirements that the court developed to protect th
