Drug Checkpoints Are Not Legal in Texas
In Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 32 (2000), the United States the Supreme Court ruled that drug checkpoints were illegal. Their conclusion was that such a broad justification for making random, suspicionless stops was a slippery slope that threatened to erode our liberties and rights through aggressive, predatory law enforcement. If you think you are encountering a police checkpoint, try to analyze whether the police are trying to trick you. Such operations typically focus on drivers taking the exit, with officers looking for suspicious actions or traffic violations such as failure to signal before exiting. Although you do not have to stop at a police checkpoint, police can still try to trick you into consenting to a search. No matter what their sign says, they cannot make you participate in their predatory policing games unless you volunteer to.
Police Roadblocks / Checkpoints and Texas
The constitutionality of DWI/DUI sobriety checkpoints and roadblocks is a divisive issue nationwide. Currently, 38 states allow these sobriety checks while 12 states do not. Texas is one of the 12 that does not allow for checkpoints. The issue is whether or not this violates a U.S. citizen’s Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. Simply put, A DWI arrest based on a sobriety checkpoint or roadblock in Texas is illegal. While not outlawed specifically by statute as in some of the other 12 states that don’t allow DUI checkpoints, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in a case from 1991 that DWI sobriety checkpoints violated a Texan’s 4th Amendment rights and were thus unconstitutional.
ADVICE ON CHECKPOINTS IN TEXAS
Regardless, Do Not Stop! Do not change your driving behavior or attempt to throw your stash out. Just keep driving and put as much distance as you can between yourself and the road pirates before making your next stop. Stay calm and focused and remember these three things and you will remain free to fire up that dank matter when you arrive at your destination. Law enforcement is generally inept at their job and rely on your mistakes to continue profiting from the War On Drugs. Don’t give them the satisfaction of destroying your life over a plant.
Drug Checkpoints (it’s a trap!)
TheUnited StatesSupreme Court has ruled that random checkpoints for the purpose of finding illegal drugs are unconstitutional. However, some police departments have devised a deceptive method to work around and exploit this restriction. Here’s how their trick works Police departments sometimes put up signs warning drivers of upcoming drug checkpoints. (This alone is not illegal.) But they will not pull over people who go through a checkpoint – because there technically is no checkpoint. Instead, officers will watch for vehicles approaching the nonexistent checkpoint and pull over for vehicles who make illegal u-turns or discard contraband in order to avoid the fictitious “Drug Checkpoint Ahead.” So if you see such signs, keep driving and don’t panic. If there’s a rest area following the sign, DO NOT pull into it. If you do, you might find yourself surrounded by drug-sniffing dogs.
