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scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
I don't see how a publicized checkpoint from midnight to 4 am on a sunday night as a deterrent on a major drinking weekend is the same as a cop deciding to pull someone over for being Mexican.

Frankly if it gets some of the drunks off the road, I'm all for it - can't wait until they get the shuttle running.
 

Em

Beach Fanatic
Sep 18, 2005
1,506
884
Walton Co.
I don't see how a publicized checkpoint from midnight to 4 am on a sunday night as a deterrent on a major drinking weekend is the same as a cop deciding to pull someone over for being Mexican.

Frankly if it gets some of the drunks off the road, I'm all for it - can't wait until they get the shuttle running.

What you are failing to see is the fact that law enforcement cannot stop someone without cause. A road block is stopping people without cause.

Just because you aren't drunk when you pass through that road block doesn't make it okay. Today, they are doing it and it doesn't affect you. But, tomorrow, they will do it and it will affect you. Will your reply be different?
 

Matt J

SWGB
May 9, 2007
24,643
9,496
What you are failing to see is the fact that law enforcement cannot stop someone without cause. A road block is stopping people without cause.

Just because you aren't drunk when you pass through that road block doesn't make it okay. Today, they are doing it and it doesn't affect you. But, tomorrow, they will do it and it will affect you. Will your reply be different?

Cause:
1. a. The producer of an effect, result, or consequence.
b. The one, such as a person, event, or condition, that is responsible for an action or result.

2. A basis for an action or response; a reason: The doctor's report gave no cause for alarm.
3. A goal or principle served with dedication and zeal: "the cause of freedom versus tyranny" (Hannah Arendt).
4. The interests of a person or group engaged in a struggle: "The cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind" (Thomas Paine).

I believe the cause here is too many drunk drivers on the road during Memorial Day weekend.
 

Landlocked

Beach Fanatic
May 16, 2005
3,216
24
47
Alabama
:blink: Here, if you are approaching a road block and make a u-ey, you get chased and most likely taken to jail, even if you are not DUI. Interesting differences.

In Montgomery, they usually have a unit parked a couple blocks up from the roadblock for the sole purpose of pulling over the folks turning around. They got me one time. The road block was 3 houses down from mine so I went around the block to get in my own driveway and he got me.

They do those roadblocks here to "check for proof of insurance" but they usually haul off a ton of folks for outstanding warrants.
 

Em

Beach Fanatic
Sep 18, 2005
1,506
884
Walton Co.
Cause:
1. a. The producer of an effect, result, or consequence.
b. The one, such as a person, event, or condition, that is responsible for an action or result.

2. A basis for an action or response; a reason: The doctor's report gave no cause for alarm.
3. A goal or principle served with dedication and zeal: "the cause of freedom versus tyranny" (Hannah Arendt).
4. The interests of a person or group engaged in a struggle: "The cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind" (Thomas Paine).

I believe the cause here is too many drunk drivers on the road during Memorial Day weekend.


Let's just hope they never make a law about gay couples being married, or people eating fatty foods, or whatever. The police have no authority under the constitution to prevent people from moving freely in the USA.

I find it interesting that you don't want people to be arrested who break the some laws, but you do want others who break other laws to be arrested. Since when are we able to cherry-pick which laws we want enforced? If the gov't steps on us for this law today, who is to say that they want step on us for other laws tomorrow? One day, you will be effected by the police stopping you, and the question you have to ask yourself is "will anyone be there to protect YOUR rights?"
 

Matt J

SWGB
May 9, 2007
24,643
9,496
Let's just hope they never make a law about gay couples being married, or people eating fatty foods, or whatever. The police have no authority under the constitution to prevent people from moving freely in the USA.

I find it interesting that you don't want people to be arrested who break the some laws, but you do want others who break other laws to be arrested. Since when are we able to cherry-pick which laws we want enforced? If the gov't steps on us for this law today, who is to say that they want step on us for other laws tomorrow? One day, you will be effected by the police stopping you, and the question you have to ask yourself is "will anyone be there to protect YOUR rights?"

I'm not sure what gay marriage or fatty foods has to do with road blocks, but I'm pretty sure your conservative rant has a case of verbal diarrhea.

Let me be clear in the fact that the Florida Supreme court has ruled that they are legal as long as they are announced and that those avoiding them, i.e. u-turns, cannot be chased.

You are more than welcome to down a fifth of Vodka, drive through it, get arrested, and then take it to the US Supreme Court and fight it.
 

Everytime

Beach Fanatic
Jul 9, 2005
439
113
Shelby County, Alabama
Murray:

I realize your line of questioning is directed at SWGB specifically in regards to your last post, but I wanted to share what I've heard about roadblock checkpoints being pretty much "exempt" from the protections granted by the Constitution. You obtain a "license" to drive a car on public roadways, and that car also has to be licensed to operate on those public roadways. These licensed privileges are not "rights" as guaranteed by the Constitution, and they are subject to what may be seen as erosion of your Constitutional rights. However, "rights" such as those of owning property, due process, etc. are granted by and protected by the Constitution. So, legally, you should be able to get as intoxicated as you want in the presence of your own home.

I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the difference in applications of police powers and/or citizens' Constitutional rights in the case of DUI enforcement, checkpoints, car searches, etc., but that is how I've understood it.

Also, some law enforcement agencies have gotten more stringent and broad in reasons of "probable cause" to pull drivers over, particularly since 9/11 and more recently in the downturn of a (tax-revenue generating) economy as this has given the judiciary some grounds to back them up in this. In the suburban town where I live, the local police department has recently started pulling drivers over and ticketing them for a cracked windshield, the "tag lights" that illuminate the license plate being out, and other infractions that may have been on the books but were usually not enforced ten years ago. Oftentimes, these violations create grounds for a pretextual stop to further investigate whether a DUI investigation (or lack of liability insurance, outstanding warrant, unpaid $6.00 parking ticket from 13 years ago) may be needed. Ideally, I don't have a problem with this in the interest of safety, but I can see where it seems a little Soviet!
 

Andy A

Beach Fanatic
Feb 28, 2007
4,389
1,738
Blue Mountain Beach
I'm not sure what gay marriage or fatty foods has to do with road blocks, but I'm pretty sure your conservative rant has a case of verbal diarrhea.

Let me be clear in the fact that the Florida Supreme court has ruled that they are legal as long as they are announced and that those avoiding them, i.e. u-turns, cannot be chased.

You are more than welcome to down a fifth of Vodka, drive through it, get arrested, and then take it to the US Supreme Court and fight it.
You know, SWGB, he is right. Once again, as far as individual rights are concerned, you are wrong.
 
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