Sobriety Checkpoint.. New Hampshire

Only the guilty need lawyers. I feel safer, because of the Sobriety Check Points. I saw that commercial where people get pulled over, and their brain buckets are full of beer, so good job for the cops.


http://www.metacafe.com/watch/167356...ng_commercial/

AFAIK, you are under no obligation to answer the officer's questions. By giving them additional intelligence, they can use it as probable cause for OUI or other infractions.

Originally Posted by MisterHappy

Only the guilty need lawyers. I feel safer, because of the Sobriety Check Points. I saw that commercial where people get pulled over, and their brain buckets are full of beer, so good job for the cops.

Spoken like a true statist.

This same checkpoint that arrested 4% of the people it pulled over Friday night I believe it was. 4.. ****ing.. percent.

You trying to tell me had this checkpoint not been in place those 4% would have been a legitimate safety threat on the road? pffft... and it proves that the DUI laws are driven by paranoia, much like gun control.

I can't have a beer or three at a buddies house and drive 15 minutes away without having to worry. I know I'm fine, everyone that knows me knows I'm fine.. but I have to make other plans because if I get pulled over because I hit a bump and knock out a taillight a cop won't necessarily care if I'm fine.

It's all horse shit and these checkpoints are nothing more than security theater and built-in overtime for the cops.

Sorry.

I thought the link to the Beer Helmet would serve as a "sarcasm" smiley.....

NH has an implied consent law which provides that any licensed person operating a motor vehicle automatically agrees to submit to a chemical test of his blood, breath, or urine, if properly requested by police. This means, that all drivers issued licenses by the State of New Hampshire have given their consent to submit to a chemical test if an officer has reasonable grounds to believe that they are operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both.

It sounds like the officer that was assigned to you didn't think he had enough grounds to pursue it any further. You were lucky although with what you said, you probably would've blown less than the minimum. Your buddy #2 was being mouthy (a good indication of being intoxicated) and so was dragged off to the field office for a breathalyzer/chemical test. He failed...I'm betting if he hadn't of been mouthy, he might've gotten the same treatment as you and buddy #1.

About the legality of check points...personally I think they stink...to me it's unlawful search without probable cause and flies in the face of the 4th amendment but it's been dragged through the NH Supreme court and it has been upheld every time. I don't get it.

In my opinion Sobriety checkpoints are a violation of the 4th amendment of the US Constitution and Article 19, Part First of the New Hampshire Constitution. Stopping you on the side of the road without suspicion of a crime is a seizure of your person and property even if it is for a short period of time. Seizure of your person or property requires a warrant signed by a judge that describes the "place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." A warrant can not be issued a specific person not anyone driving down the street. That is suppose to be the difference between us and authoritarian countries.

Currently as of (Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz) that majority of the Supreme Court does not agree with me but the dissenting remarks from Justice Stevens clearly identify sobriety checkpoints as a violation of the Four Amendment of the US Constitution. In his descent he reference Justice words soon after returning from the Nuremberg Trials, "These Fourth Amendment rights, I protest, are not mere second-class rights, but belong in the catalog of indispensable freedoms. Among deprivations of rights, none is so effective in cowing a population, crushing the spirit of the individual and putting terror in every heart. Uncontrolled search and seizure is one of the first and most effective weapons in the arsenal of every arbitrary government." At least a dozen states have also outlawed sobriety checkpoints including Texas which has stated that they are unconstitutional under the US constitution.

The sad thing is that sobriety checkpoint are not even the most effective policing tool. The FBI weighed in when it compared saturation patrols to checkpoints in Ohio, Missouri, and Tennessee. The comparison showed that “Overall, measured in arrests per hour, a dedicated saturation patrol is the most effective method of apprehending offenders.” Saturation patrols can be performed without violating a person's constitutionally protected rights.

So even though myself and many others believe them to be unconstitutional in New Hampshire, they are currently legal but do have restrictions. The first restriction is that they require a Superior Court warrant in order to be setup. Second they have to be announced in the local Newspaper and state their time and location. You'll see a bill in the NH House almost every year than bans sobriety checkpoints. Usually it gets defeated because they only people the attend the public hearing the an aid from the Attorney General's office. Looks for the bill this January, call your state Rep/Senator and get them to support it.