SANTA MARIA, California — Santa Maria Police Department conducted yet another unconstitutional and illegal DUI / Driver’s license checkpoint as part of California Office of Traffic Safety’s (OTS) “Year of the Checkpoint” campaign for 2010. The Santa Maria checkpoint was only one of more than 2500 (ostensibly) OTS-funded checkpoints which are due to be carried out within the state of California during 2010. (Following the money trail, the funding actually traces back to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is an agency under the federal Department of Transportation (DOT), which is a cabinet position under the President of the United States.) If OTS’s “Year of the Checkpoint” campaign is successfully carried out, then California drivers will endure more than 208 of these unconstitutional / illegal checkpoints per month. “To my knowledge, California conducts more checkpoints than any other state,” said OTS Director Christopher J. Murphy. While DUI checkpoints were officially (if unconstitutionally) sanctioned by the Supreme Court’s Michigan vs. Sitz case, driver’s license checkpoints were not. However, a quick survey of police department websites reveals that most DUI / sobriety checkpoints are dual purpose; that is, police officers regularly check for driver’s licenses in addition to checking for driver impairment. Even though driver’s license checkpoints are not legal according to case law, most drivers are unaware of this fact and so the …
Originally posted here:
Unconstitutional DUI / Driver’s License Checkpoint Santa Maria, California 9/10/10
