Roadblocks to Find Unlicensed Drivers LEGAL

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http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAH7TBEUSC.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - Ohio drivers lost a Supreme Court appeal Monday that
asked whether police roadblocks to check for unlicensed drivers violated
the Constitution's guarantee against unreasonable searches or stops.

The court, without comment, declined to hear the case of two Dayton men
cited for driving without licenses in 1998.

"We're pleased with the decision," said Dayton city prosecutor Deirdre
Logan. "These types of checkpoints don't violate the Constitution. We
intend to do more checkpoints."

Police generally need a court warrant or a reason to suspect someone of
a crime before detaining them for several minutes. But in past rulings,
the nation's highest court allowed police to set up sobriety checkpoints
aimed at randomly detecting drunken drivers and border roadblocks to
intercept illegal immigrants.

In both instances the court found that benefits to public safety and
order outweighed the inconvenience and loss of privacy suffered by
motorists.

Last year, the court invalidated random checkpoints intended to catch
drug criminals.

Law enforcement in and of itself is not a good enough reason to stop
innocent motorists, the 6-3 majority concluded in that case, called
Indianapolis v. Edmond.

The court has not ruled squarely on the question of whether catching
license violations is reason enough to erect a roadblock. Licenses are
checked at sobriety checkpoints, but catching drunks is the main aim.

In the Dayton case, Magus D. Orr and Andre L. Smith were ticketed in
June 1998, when police ran several checkpoints throughout the city. The
men claim the stops were unconstitutional because police had no
particular reason to suspect one motorist over another.

"The idea that government agents may seize people at checkpoints without
having any suspicion of wrongdoing it very un-American," lawyers for the
two men wrote in asking the Supreme Court to hear the appeal.

Dayton police stopped cars according to a prearranged pattern - say
every 10th car or every fourth - and a sign posted 100 yards away warned
drivers they might be stopped.

Police asked for a license, and if the driver had none the officer ran a
computer check. For most people, the stop lasted no more than two
minutes, police said.

The city argued that roadblocks improved public safety by catching
drivers who are more likely to pose a danger, and who would not be
immediately recognizable to police any other way.

"Checkpoints allow detection of unlicensed or unqualified drivers before
some intervening event, such as when an accident or injury to the public
occurs," lawyers for the city wrote in urging the Supreme Court not to
review the men's appeal.

Approximately one in eight drivers in Dayton had no valid license, and
about 30 percent of traffic citations issued in the city were for
license violations, the city claimed.

The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously upheld the roadblocks in May.

The case is Orr v. Ohio, 01-253.