California IN BRIEF : SAN DIEGO : Ruling on Border Drug Search Stands

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower court ruling that allows limited drug searches by Border Patrol agents at freeway checkpoints. Without comment, the high court refused to hear the appeal of Carlsbad glazier Mark A. Taylor, who was arrested on a charge of drug possession at the immigration checkpoint near San Clemente in April, 1990. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled last May that Border Patrol agents at checkpoints may screen motorists for drugs as long as the stop is brief and supported by minimal suspicion that a crime may be occurring. Taylor’s attorney appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court last November, saying the drug checks violate Fourth Amendment safeguards against unreasonable search and seizure. If allowed to stand, the 9th Circuit ruling would give limited approval to a request by the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego for a dual use of freeway checkpoints that would be used to screen for drugs in addition to illegal immigrants.