{"id":921,"date":"2016-06-27T05:19:12","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T09:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.massachusettscriminaldefenselawyerblog.com\/?p=921"},"modified":"2016-06-27T05:19:12","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T09:19:12","slug":"refusing-breath-test-can-result-criminal-penalties-according-recent-us-supreme-court-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.delsignoredefense.com\/blog\/refusing-breath-test-can-result-criminal-penalties-according-recent-us-supreme-court-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Refusing a breath test can result in criminal penalties according to recent US Supreme Court decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that states cannot make it a crime for a drunken driving suspect to refuse to take a blood test but can criminalize the refusal to take breath tests to determine alcohol levels. \u00a0The ruling will affect laws in 11 states. \u00a0The justices ruled that police must obtain a search warrant before requiring drivers to take blood alcohol tests, but not breath tests. \u00a0The court considers\u00a0breath tests less intrusive than blood tests, hence no need for a warrant. \u00a0The ruling came in three cases in which drivers challenged so-called implied consent laws<\/a> in Minnesota and North Dakota as violating the Constitution’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. \u00a0Other states that have criminalized a driver’s refusal to take alcohol blood or breath tests include Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.<\/p>\n

Implied consent laws make the assumption that by driving on a state\u2019s roads, you are deemed to have consented to testing if you are suspected of drunk driving. \u00a0All fifty states have imposed some form of implied consent laws. \u00a0Many states have tough laws if a driver is found to be driving under the influence. \u00a0These tough laws have\u00a0created a problem of their own: drivers, particularly those who have had a lot to drink or have prior drunk driving convictions, may opt to refuse the tests, because the consequences of doing so may be less severe than what they would face if convicted of drunk driving. This dilemma\u00a0led the eleven\u00a0states mentioned above to create statutes that make refusing alcohol testing a crime.<\/p>\n

Alcohol testing is a physical trespass search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, and therefore it must fall within a Fourth Amendment exception in order to be conducted without a warrant. \u00a0The Court ruled two years ago in a case involving the search of an arrestee\u2019s cellphone, courts should instead look at the extent to which the search intrudes on the privacy of the person who is being arrested, as well as the extent to which the search is needed to promote \u201clegitimate governmental interests.” \u00a0The Court today held that there is no real physical intrusion from the breathalyzer test, and that keeping drunk drivers off of the street is a legitimate government interest.By contrast, the Court concluded today, blood tests do not pass constitutional muster to be conducted without a warrant. \u00a0Although they too help promote “legitimate government interests,”\u00a0they are \u201csignificantly more intrusive\u201d than breath tests: they require the technician taking the sample to pierce the driver\u2019s skin, extracting a sample that provides law enforcement officials with more information than a breath test.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that states cannot make it a crime for a drunken driving suspect to refuse to take a blood test but can criminalize the refusal to take breath tests to determine alcohol levels. \u00a0The ruling will affect laws in 11 states. \u00a0The justices ruled that police must obtain a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breathalyzer-testing","category-united-states-supreme-court"],"yoast_head":"\nRefusing a breath test can result in criminal penalties according to recent US Supreme Court decision — Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog — June 27, 2016<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that states cannot make it a crime for a 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