Richard J. Emhof DUI/DWI Law Blog on Lawyers.com

According to usatoday.com, some police officials are complaining that Twitter is being used by young drivers to warn one another of the location of sobriety checkpoints, allowing them to avoid going through the checkpoints. These police officials apparently think this is a problem.

In fact, in many jurisdictions, the police are required to publicly advertise the date, time, and location of any future DUI checkpoint. The courts have imposed this requirement because a sobriety checkpoint imposes upon the drivers a detention by police without probable cause (generally frowned upon, what with the Fourth Amendment and all). In fact the reason the courts require advance public notice is precisely so people will know about the checkpoint in advance and have the opportunity to take an alternate route and avoid this government intrusion if they so choose.

Police/prosecutor’s attitudes about the advance public notice requirement generally fall into two categories:

(1) The more enlightened police and prosecutors accept and support the advance publication requirement as being consistent with our Constitutional principles of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure without probable cause. Plus, it is believed that if the public knows the police will be out checking for DUI drivers, they will deterred from driving drunk to begin with.

(2) Many in law enforcement disagree in principle and feel that it is better if people don’t know in advance about the checkpoints. They only advertise the checkpoints because it is required by law. Until recently, police didn’t really care, because they could comply with the law by “advertising” the checkpoints in such a way that, in practice, hardly anyone actually gets the message. The “advertisements” aren’t exactly on the front page of the newspaper, and hardly anyone who goes through a checkpoint actually knew about it ahead of time. Plus, the police will often position them in such a way that it is impossible for an approaching driver to legally avoid it once it comes into sight. So, for the most part, the police have been able to comply with the letter of the law without actually making many people aware of the DUI checkpoints in advance.

Well apparently, Twitter is changing this and making it so that the people can actually protect their rights using free speech/communication. For the full article, click here: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2009/12/police-fear-tw itter-users-will-thwart-dui-checkpoints-/1.

Beware, though. In DUI matters, the courts have a way of support individual liberty as long as doing so doesn’t impair the ability of prosecutors to obtain convictions. If it does so impair the prosecution, courts will often carve out an exception to the Constitution or come up with some twisted logic to allow the police to have it their way. Stay tuned.

PA DUI Lawyer Richard J. Emhof focuses on reaching the best possible resolution for the interests of each and every client accused of drunk driving in Pennsylvania. We strive to save our clients’ employment, driving privileges, and piece of mind. The initial consultation is free of charge. Contact us today online or call 1-866-457-9957 to discuss your case.