U.S. Supreme Court strikes down drug roadblocks

http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/11/28/court.roadblocks.sc.reut/index.html

November 28, 2000
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday struck down as unconstitutional police roadblocks to catch drug offenders, saying they violate privacy rights.

The nation's high court, by a 6-3 vote, ruled against Indianapolis, where police had erected the roadblocks in an effort to stop the flow of illegal drugs through the city.

"Because the primary purpose of the Indianapolis checkpoint program is ultimately indistinguishable from the general interest in crime control, the checkpoints violate the Fourth Amendment" protection against unreasonable searches, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor declared for the court majority.

At the roadblocks, police officers checked license and vehicle registrations, motorists were examined for any signs of drug use and a drug-sniffing dog walked around the outside of each stopped car.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, the court's most conservative members, dissented. Rehnquist said the checkpoints only involved a "minimal intrusion on the privacy" of the occupants of the vehicles.

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