Get Your "Free Swerve" Here!

There are not many things that get me on a soapbox. I try to avoid arguing politics, religion, and other topics because I know what I believe, and you can believe what you want to believe.

However (~and THAT is the big "but" in my post today)...

The following ruling made me sad yesterday, and I wondered your thoughts on this volatile subject: Drunk Driving and Your Rights As A Drunk Driver

(After you read the following article-I will share with you my thoughts, so please read on...)

WASHINGTON (Oct. 20) — Chief Justice John Roberts spoke out in vain Tuesday against a lower court ruling he says will "grant drunk drivers 'one free swerve'" that could potentially end some one's life.
Roberts wanted the Supreme Court to review the lower court ruling but he failed to persuade enough of his colleagues. The court declined to hear an appeal from Virginia officials who had their drunk driving conviction of Joseph A. Moses Harris, Jr. thrown out by that state's Supreme Court. Police were notified by an anonymous tipster that Harris was driving intoxicated, but the arresting officer did not see Harris break any traffic laws.Skip over this content

While Chief Justice John Roberts argued that police need "every legitimate tool at their disposal for getting drunk drivers off the road," his colleagues declined to review a lower court decision on the issue.Skip over this content The majority of the justices did not say why they did not take the case, but Roberts in a written dissent, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, said the Virginia court's decision will put people in danger.
"The decision below commands that police officers following a driver reported to be drunk do nothing until they see the driver actually do something unsafe on the road — by which time it may be too late," Roberts wrote.
Roberts noted that close to 13,000 people die in alcohol-related car crashes a year, which equals to one death every 40 minutes.
Roberts said a majority of the courts have said it doesn't violate the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure to pull over drunk drivers based on anonymous tips from programs like the "Drunk Busters Hotline."
But some courts, including some in Wyoming, Massachusetts and Connecticut, have agreed with Virginia in saying that police must see a traffic violation before pulling over a suspected drunk driver based on an anonymous tip.
The Supreme Court should have stepped in and made the rule clear, Roberts said.
"The stakes are high. The effect of the rule below will be to grant drunk drivers 'one free swerve' before they can be legally pulled over by police," Roberts said. "It will be difficult for an officer to explain to the family of a motorist killed by that swerve that the police had a tip that the driver of the other car was drunk, but that they were powerless to pull him over, even for a quick check."
Richmond, Va., police were called on the morning of Dec. 31, 2005, and told that an intoxicated Harris was driving a green Altima down the street. A police officer saw Harris drive slowly through an intersection where he didn't have to stop and put on his brake lights well in advance of a red light.
Harris then pulled over to the side of the road, where the police officer smelled alcohol on his breath. Harris also failed the field sobriety tests, but the police officer did not see him break any traffic laws.
Harris was convicted of driving while intoxicated, but the Virginia Supreme Court threw out his conviction. The court said since the police officer did not see erratic driving behavior like swerving, there was not a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to warrant the stop.
Harris's lawyer said the Supreme Court should let that decision stand because "society's reasonable expectation of privacy requires some facts to support the tipster's allegation that the driver was intoxicated."
If that's correct and the Fourth Amendment bans the use of anonymous tips on drunk drivers without police verification, "the dangerous consequences of this rule are unavoidable," Roberts said. "But the police should have every legitimate tool at their disposal for getting drunk drivers off the road. I would grant certiorari to determine if this is one of them."
The case is Virginia v. Harris, 08-1385.

My thoughts? I thought you would never ask!

1. If you are driving drunk-You deserve to be pulled over. (You won't be offended if you have nothing to hide, is my thinking-)

2. The Fourth Amendment (Listed below for you in its entirety),
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." says "unreasonable", and to me, if someone THINKS you are drunk driving and gives an anonymous tip to the police, that IS reasonable cause to me for you to be pulled over.

3. You get one "free swerve" before they can pull you over? What if that "free swerve" is into me and my kids??? What about my rights as a law abiding citizen?

4. This means, when I am out, and I see a drunk swerve all over the road, the police can now do nothing based on my call? What about the rest of us who don't want to get hit by them??? I call EVERY TIME in a panic because I think of how MY family has been affected by a drunk driver, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone...

5. Finally-and to me closest to my heart, and my sadness-I wish someone had made an anonymous tip before my older brother was killed by a drunk driver at age twenty. I wish he knew my sons-especially how one of my boys carries his name as their middle name. (Did you know Brother, he even has hints of your strawberry highlighted hair? I catch a glimpses sometimes, and think, of all my boys-the one with your name, has YOUR hair???)

What are your thoughts on this ruling?

(...Who wished I could show you a great picture of my fantastic, kind, funny, gentle, sweet, older brother sitting with my boys in the picture above. But I can't. He was killed by a drunk driver...)