“Becoming a Police State…in the Name of DUI”
Posted by Lawrence Taylor on August 30th, 2006The following is from a presiding justice's dissenting opinion in a Pennsylvania appellate decision affirming a DUI conviction:
I must vigorously dissent from the well-written opinion of the majority, as it seems we are coming perilously close to turning a blind eye to questionable conduct by our police officers. While I acknowledge that our police officers are charged with the awesome and sometimes onerous responsibility of protecting the public, I cannot sanction the whisperings of the majority that that protection comes at the deprivation of the constitutional rights of citizenship. We do not want a police state, and it seems we are on the precipice of becoming one, in the name of DUI. I suggest that the Court, and the police, can ill afford to sanction this type of conduct.
(Emphasis added.) Fortunately, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed this lower court ruling a few days ago and, in so doing, agreed with the dissenting justice's comments. Comes the dawn?
(Thanks to Fred Slone and Troy McKinney.)
i live in a police state florida.
i was wrongly charged and convicted.
i have done with the court part almost 3 yrs.
now i am doing dmv supervision.
i have to do much more than probation.
got to meetings no 12 alternative. have to write about topic which violates program anonymity.
they want a sponsor name.
its 2 yrs i have done a 1 1/2 yrs.
all they care about is money.
there is no reason for these apts just to hand in verifications.
i have panic about cops now don’t trust them.
it is time for reasonable dui laws, not making every traffic stop a potiental dui.
its time to say enough is enough
With more and more technology will come more and more rules to create state revenue and in turn turn our society into a Nanny State – its evolving right before our eyes.