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Warrantless Search – Blood Tests

By: Derek Hawkins//June 28, 2016//

Warrantless Search – Blood Tests

By: Derek Hawkins//June 28, 2016//

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US Supreme Court

Case Name: Birchfield v. North Dakota

Case No.: 14-1468

Focus: Warrantless Search – Blood Tests

The Fourth Amendment permits warrantless breath tests incident to arrests for drunk driving but not warrantless blood tests.

“The search-incident-to-arrest doctrine has an ancient pedigree that predates the Nation’s founding, and no historical evidence suggests that the Fourth Amendment altered the permissible bounds of arrestee searches. The mere “fact of the lawful arrest” justifies “a full search of the person.” United States v. Robinson, 414 U. S. 218, 235. The doctrine may also apply in situations that could not have been envisioned when the Fourth Amendment was adopted. In Riley v. California, 573 U. S. ___, the Court considered how to apply the doctrine to searches of an arrestee’s cell phone. Because founding era guidance was lacking, the Court determined “whether to exempt [the] search from the warrant requirement ‘by assessing, on the one hand, the degree to which it intrudes upon an individual’s privacy and, on the other, the degree to which it is needed for the promotion of legitimate governmental interests.’ ” Id., at ___. The same mode of analysis is proper here because the founding era provides no definitive guidance on whether blood and breath tests should be allowed incident to arrest”

Vacated and Remanded

CONCURRING: SOTOMAYOR, THOMAS, GINSBURG

DISSENTING: SOTOMAYOR, THOMAS, GINSBURG

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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