Land of the Free: What Are My Rights at Various “Checkpoints”?
March 15th, 2013I’ve never heard of or encountered the ‘Drug Checkpoint’ scam before! When did the filth start trying that one on?
The Supreme Court has ruled that random checkpoints for the purpose of finding illegal drugs are unconstitutional. However, police sometimes put up signs warning drivers of up-coming drug checkpoints and instead pull over people who make illegal u-turns or discard contraband out the window. If you see a sign saying “Drug Checkpoint Ahead”, just keep driving and don’t panic. If there’s a rest area following the sign, DO NOT pull into it. If you do, you’ll find yourself surrounded by drug-sniffing dogs.
Police departments, especially in the Mid-west, have been pushing their luck with this tactic, so if you encounter anything resembling an actual drug checkpoint, please contact that state’s ACLU Chapter. Similarly, if you’re arrested as a result of a real or fake “drug checkpoint”, you must contact an attorney to explore your legal options.
Via: Flex Your Rights:
There are four general types of checkpoints you might encounter: DUI checkpoints, US border checkpoints, drug checkpoints, and TSA checkpoints. In a legal sense, they are not all created equal. So depending on which one you encounter, you’ll want to be prepared to flex your rights appropriately.
Research Credit: Pookie
My absolute all-time ‘favorite’ checkpoint – the one that woke me up to the changes that were coming after 9/11 – the Poultry Commission Checkpoint. I’m not making this up. My wife was with me. This is the main reason she doesn’t make fun of my conspiracy theories – she was there and saw it.
Early spring of 2002 while crossing Hoover Dam there was a horrendous backup of cars and of course no way to opt-out. I had intended to take the full tour of the dam, but after a couple of hours in this slow-moving line of cars decided to pass on it (shortly after this they stopped the tours on homeland security grounds). We get across the canyon and get to a checkpoint with a hastily made sign saying ‘Poultry Commission’ and three men, two ostensibly police officers and the leader – with no identifying badge or anything – who looked kind of like the bad guy Toht from Raiders of the lost Ark in a black trench coat and hat.