RULING REVIVES SOBRIETY CHECKS

State Supreme Court Sides In Favor Of Police Roadblocks; It Also Allows
Schools To Randomly Test Students For Drugs.

Two major decisions from the Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday will bring
back sobriety checkpoints on the roads and random drug testing in some schools.

The state's highest court ruled that public safety trumped privacy rights
when it comes to snaring drunken drivers and students who use drugs.

The effect of the two decisions is far-reaching. At least 70 school
districts in the state used random drug testing. And sobriety checkpoints
have been widely used by local law enforcement agencies and the Indiana
State Police.

Police and schools halted both practices two years ago when the Indiana
Court of Appeals ruled that sobriety checkpoints and random drug testing
were illegal under the state's constitution.

The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that drunken driving roadblocks
and random drug testing are allowed under the U.S. Constitution. But more
recently, the country's highest court, ruling in an Indianapolis case,
refused to expand those roadblocks to include random checks for drugs.

Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman said Tuesday's ruling means motorists
can expect to see drunken driving roadblocks again.

"We're not going to rush out today and put up a checkpoint," he said.
"They're not a modern miracle of traffic safety; they're just another tool
to help keep drunk drivers off the road."

Without roadblocks in their toolkit, Marion County law enforcement beefed
up roving police patrols to catch drunken drivers, said Indianapolis Police
Department Lt. Don Bickel.

With Tuesday's decision, Bickel said, IPD will join with the Marion County
Sheriff's Department in erecting roadblocks.

Before the 2000 appellate court ruling, about 70 school districts,
including Speedway and Decatur Township, conducted random drug tests on
students who wanted to drive to school, play sports or participate in
clubs. After that decision, those districts tested students only if there
was reasonable suspicion of drug use.

"This is about prevention," said Northwestern School Corp. Superintendent
Ryan Snoddy, whose district reinstated its program this year. "It gives
students one more reason to say no."

His Howard County school district of 1,700 students was at the center of
the Indiana Supreme Court's drug testing case. Two students sued, arguing
that the random tests were unconstitutional because students had to agree
to be randomly tested for drugs if they wanted to participate in
after-school activities.

The justices, who split 3-2 in upholding random drug testing, ruled that
students can't expect the same right to privacy as adults.

That doesn't sit well with Indiana Civil Liberties Union attorney Ken Falk,
who represented students Rosa and Reena Linke, who are sisters.

"I'm disappointed that students are viewed that way, because they should be
able to have pretty high expectations of privacy when it comes to bodily
functions," he said.

A motorist arrested for drunken driving at a checkpoint in St. Joseph
County used the same privacy argument in his case by arguing the random
stop was unreasonable search and seizure.

Though the state's highest court declared both sobriety checkpoints and
random drug testing acceptable, the justices didn't give schools and police
permission to do whatever they want.

David Emmert, general counsel for the Indiana School Boards Association,
said the court made it clear that schools need to demonstrate there's a
drug problem to justify random testing.

The state Supreme Court also left a clear road map for how police can
conduct a legal roadblock. The St. Joseph County case that sparked
Tuesday's roadblock decision was ruled unconstitutional because it was an
example of what not to do.

Chief Justice Randall Shepard, with unanimous agreement, described that
checkpoint as a "dragnet" that left police officers with too much
discretion on how to handle the stops. And the scope of checkpoints needs
to be limited to drunken driving.

The court said the checkpoint in the St. Joseph County case had many goals,
including catching motorists for seat belt and child-restraint violations
and making sure drivers had proper license, registration and insurance
information.

Attorney General Steve Carter, whose office argued in favor of roadblocks,
said it will draft guidelines for checkpoints so they pass constitutional
muster. He'll then give those guidelines to law enforcement agencies.