Checkpoint Steps On Motorists’ Rights

To the Editor,

On June 9, 700 motorists were stopped at a sobriety checkpoint in Newtown. Only one of those motorists was charged with driving while intoxicated. I shudder to think about the damage or loss of life that drunk driver may have caused. However, I question the necessity of indiscriminately stopping 699 innocent citizens to apprehend one criminal.

As reported in The Bee, each one of these stops only took about a minute. What is wrong with taking a minute out of our lives to help the police in this important cause you might ask? For one, aren’t checkpoints something to be used during martial law or in countries that are at war or have border disputes? Do we want to live in a society where we are stopped at random and questioned by the authorities?

I want to eliminate drunk drivers from the roads as much as anyone. But I think this method steps on the rights of citizens to move about freely.

America is a free society today because many of our forefathers fought to incorporate essential freedoms into our constitution. The 4th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits police checkpoints.

“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.”

Benjamin Franklin had this to say, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Richard Reilly

35 High Rock Road, Sandy Hook          June 30, 2000