On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled officers can draw blood from an unconscious DUI suspect without a warrant.
According to NPR, under the Fourth Amendment, officers have been required to obtain a warrant to draw blood for testing. Today, the judges voted 5-4 to uphold a Wisconsin law that says people driving on a public road have impliedly consented to have their blood drawn if they’re suspected of driving under the influence.
Previous courts have blocked the law because the blood draw is an intrusion into a person’s privacy.
The law in question reached the Supreme Court after a man convicted of driving while intoxicated said his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when police took his blood for a BAC test after he had passed out.
The man, identified as Gerald Mitchell, had a BAC of .22% 90 minutes after police found him drunk and walking around a pond near his parked van.
Five of the six conservative judges voted in favor of upholding the Wisconsin law. Justice Gorsuch was the only dissident from his conservative counterparts, though he never felt the hearing should have reached the highest court in America.
The winning judges cited the need for the officers to act quickly since the suspected drunk driver could quickly turn into a public danger.
28 other states have similar laws.
© 2019 Bright Mountain Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The content of this webpage may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of Bright Mountain Media, Inc. which may be contacted at info@brightmountainmedia.com, ticker BMTM.
OUR CONSTITUTION HAS BEEN RAPED BY THE SUPREME COURT!