Justices OK Sobriety-Test Roadblocks

The Supreme Court today let police in Virginia continue using sobriety-check roadblocks in an effort to curb drunken drivers.

The justices, without comment, refused to hear arguments that setting up such roadblocks violates the constitutional rights of those motorists who are stopped.

State courts have split on that issue, and today’s action does not resolve it definitively.

The high court in 1979 struck down as unconstitutional the use of random stops of automobiles by police to check driver’s licenses and car registrations.

The court said in that ruling that random stops of motorists who are not suspected of breaking any law violate the Constitution’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

Delaware Law Invalidated

The 1979 decision struck down a Delaware law that gave police officers broad discretion in choosing cars for the routine checks, saying it left too much room for discrimination.

But the ruling did not bar states from “developing methods for spot-checks that involve less intrusion or that do not involve unconstrained exercise of discretion.”

The justices seven years ago suggested that questioning all oncoming traffic at roadblock-type stops could be an alternative. Two justices suggested that police could make stops that were not purely random, such as every 10th car to pass a given point.

Since then, many states have initiated roadblock programs to crack down on drunken drivers.