Friday, May 8, 2015

Can a driver legally make a u-turn to avoid a DUI checkpoint?

Criminal defense attorney Samuel Partida, Jr. publishes a tremendous criminal law blog and podcast located at Illinoiscaselaw.com. He's also a great follow on Twitter (here). 

One of last week's podcasts analyzed whether a police officer would have reasonable suspicion to make a traffic stop if a driver made a u-turn to avoid a DUI checkpoint. The podcast was inspired by the Illinois criminal court case People v. Timmsen, 2014 IL App (3d) 120481

The answer may surprise you. I don't practice DUI or criminal law, so I don't know how this typically plays out in the real world, but I'd be willing to bet that 100% of the people who try to avoid checkpoints get pulled over even though the vast majority should not.  

Samuel's podcast is timely in light of the article in this morning's Tribune about DUI checkpoints (here). It turns out that the large majority of roadside checkpoints are conducted in areas populated mostly by minorities, whereas predominately white communities actually have higher rates of drunken driving accidents and fatalities. The Tribune article states that Chicago's policies regarding the location of DUI checkpoints probably violate federal guidelines. I'd be very interested in a Tribune investigation into improper traffic stops for legal u-turns in front of roadside checkpoints. 

Anyway, Samuel is blogging and podcasting about plenty of other fascinating issues for criminal law practitioners. His website is also approved for MCLE credit by the Illinois Minimum Continuing Legal Education Board, so if you still need any CLE hours check out his website here.  

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