Many people don't realize that in America the police cannot simply block the road for the purpose of stopping and checking the sobriety of drivers. Believe it or not, this would be considered a constitutional rights violation, as some rights still rest in the hands of the people. Although in many ways we are progressively becoming more of a police state as we "voluntarily" give up small portions of our rights, little by little, we are not to the point where the government can barricade the roads on a whim for the purposes of law enforcement.
This doesn't mean the police have not TRIED to accomplish this. In fact they have, but the courts have restrained them, at the urging of good defense attorneys who have fought to protect the rights of both their clients and the general public. One such case was in a California Supreme Court 
case known as Ingersoll v. Palmer, in which the court ruled that DUI checkpoints are legal, but only if the police follow very strict guidelines. These guidelines include:
1) Decisions must be made at a Supervisory Level: As opposed to the whims of the officers in the field, only supervisory law enforcement personnel may make the decision to establish a sobriety checkpoint and select the site. This requirement is important to reduce the potential for arbitrary and random enforcement.
2) Limits on the Discretion of Field Officers: A neutral mathematical formula, such as every driver, or every third, fifth, or tenth driver should be used in determining who to stop at the roadblock. Again, this is an attempt to spare the general public from the whims of any individual officer attempting to stop whomever he/she feels like, under color of authority.
3) Maintenance of Safety Conditions: Primary consideration must be given to maintaining safety for motorists and officers. Things like adequate lighting, warning signs and signals and clearly identifiable official vehicles are required.
4) Reasonable Location: Again, our California Supreme Court was understandably concerned about giving too much discretion to officers in the field, and, instead, ruled that legal checkpoints must be planned in advance under policies set forth by supervisory personnel. To be legal, the sites chosen should be those which will be most effective in actually stopping drunk drivers, such as roads which have a high incidence of alcohol-related accidents and arrests.
5) Time and Duration: While there are no specific rules regarding time and duration of the roadblock, law enforcement officials are expected to exercise reasonable judgment in setting times and durations, with an eye to effectiveness of the operation and with the safety of motorists in mind.
6) Indications of Official Nature of Roadblock: The roadblock must be highly visible, with warning lights, flashing lights, adequate lighting, police vehicles and the presence of uniformed officers. This assures approaching motorists that the roadblock is authorized and legal.
7) Length and Nature of Detention of Motorists: Each motorist stopped should be detained only long enough for the officer to question the driver briefly and to look for signs of intoxication. If the driver does not display signs of impairment, he/she must be permitted to drive on without further delay. If the officer does observe signs of impairment, the driver may be directed to a separate area for a roadside sobriety test.
8) Advance Publicity: Advance publicity is important to the maintenance of a constitutional checkpoint. The Court's reasoning here is that advance notice limits intrusion upon the public's personal dignity and security because those stopped would anticipate and understand what was happening.
The CA Supreme Court also stated that motorists who want to avoid the checkpoint may not be stopped and detained merely because they attempted to avoid the roadblock. Of course, if the motorist commits a vehicle code violation or displays obvious signs of intoxication, then there is adequate reasonable suspicion to pull over that motorist, and of course officers will be watching those motorists carefully for any violations.
So thankfully, we still have the choice to avoid a government roadblock, be it in advance when planning our route or when we first notice that the road is being blocked ahead. In rulings such as the Ingersoll case and cases like it, required that advanced public disclosure of roadblocks is necessary for the roadblocks to be legal.
Thus, before you venture out for a night of social drinking, you should always remember a few things: 1. Use your common sense about whether your intoxication level is such that it's preventing you from safely driving (as a rule of thumb, use a BAC calculator and maintain the mental presence to keep track of what you're drinking); 2. Check internet resources such as the local police website or this blog for the latest information on time/location of checkpoints.
Here is a list of times/locations in Los Angeles to avoid this weekend and over the Labor Day holiday:
• Friday, August 26, 2011 - Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Manchester Avenue and Broadway in Southeast Area;
• Friday, August 26, 2011 - Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Figueroa Street and 9th Street in Central Area;
• Friday, August 26, 2011 - Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Sunset Boulevard and Hoover Street in Northeast Area;
• Saturday, August 27, 2011 - DUI Saturation Patrol from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. in West Los Angeles Area.
• Friday, September 2, 2011 - Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Venice Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Wilshire Area;
• Friday, September 2, 2011 - Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Topanga Boulevard and Califa Street in Topanga Area;
• Saturday, September 3, 2011 - Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Venice Boulevard and Lincoln Boulevard in Pacific Area;
• Saturday, September 3, 2011 - Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Western Avenue and Slauson Avenue in 77th Street Area;
• Saturday, September 3, 2011 - Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Figueroa Street and 9th Street in Central Area; and,
• Sunday, September 4, 2011 - Sobriety Checkpoint from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Harbor Boulevard and 1st Street in Harbor Area.
Enjoy your weekends, but stay safe, and if you or your friends need experienced legal representation to fight a DUI case, be sure to give us a call. When one of our clients is caught in a checkpoint, we use the Ingersoll case to put the checkpoint under the microscope and examine its legality with the goal of undercutting the State's case.
