Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
Jacksonville DUI checkpoints occur when the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office designates an area in which it will stop vehicles in order to look for drivers that are possibly impaired. While it is commendable that Jacksonville is working to keep drunk drivers off the road, this is a intrusion into our privacy. No one enjoys waiting for road stop, and unfettered police discretion is never beneficial to the community.
Florida courts recognize this violation of our constitutional rights. Thus, they prohibit check-points that do not meet certain legal requirements. The Florida Supreme Court, in State v. Jones, 483 so. 2d 433 (Fla. 1986), ruled that before police can initiate a sobriety checkpoint, they must issue a set of uniform guidelines that set out certain procedures for the roadblock. In Campbell v. State, 679 So. 2d 1168 (Fla. 1996), the Florida Supreme Court made it clear that “police are not vested with the general authority to set up ‘routine’ roadblocks at any time or place.”
For more information about DUI stops, contact a Jacksonville DUI lawyer. A Jacksonville DUI Lawyer can evaluate the guidelines set and procedures taken at a DUI checkpoint to determine the legality of the Jacksonville roadblock.