DRUG SEARCHES VIOLATE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

For years, police officers have been able to legally set up sobriety
checkpoints, at which they may randomly stop motorists to check for the
presence of alcohol or intoxicated drivers. Now, Indiana police are
stopping motorists to search for the presence of illegal drugs. They are
doing so without probable cause.

This is a hotly debated topic, and its constitutionality will now be up for
a final, and possibly fatal, decision in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Checkpoints violate the protection from unreasonable searches and seizures
located in the Constitution's Fourth Amendment, and if the rights of
enforcement agencies go unchecked, this country will begin, or continue, to
slip quietly into a state of totalitarianism.

Many feel that sobriety checkpoints constitute a reasonable search that
acts on behalf of the welfare of the surrounding community. Although this
does benefit the safety of the community by removing intoxicated drivers
from the streets before they can cause an accident, it is a violation of
individual rights.

A minor violation such as this "for the good of the community" opens a door
to larger violations of human rights. Laws are not created to persecute an
individual prior to committing a crime. This type of "preventative
medicine" is considered unconstitutional, but for some reason it is being
used in Indiana.

Arrests may not be made to prevent even a known felon from committing a
crime. Even a potential rapist cannot be prosecuted without first raping,
or attempting to rape, someone. So then why and how can it be argued that a
person can be detained for a drug search without provocation?

People challenging the "random stop" program argue that because narcotic
possession or its transport creates no urgency in a society, it cannot be
reasonable.

Does it seem reasonable to have trained dogs circle your car while an
officer explains to you that the only reason he pulled you over was because
you fit the description of a suspicious person? Is it possible that stops
can be racially motivated? The only urgency concerning this issue is the
rights of American citizens. If we are forced to succumb to the irrational
and unpredictable stops of officers on the roads, then we may as well allow
them to enter our houses and ransack our bedrooms whenever they wish.