As reported in an article by Phillip Reed of wtvo.com, harsh dui testing policies are going to be implemented in Winnebago county, Illinois over this holiday weekend. According to Reed,
“A new program will force offenders to get a blood test, regardless if they consent to it.” Here we go again. Just this week this blog talked about the case of Birchfield V. North Dakota in which the state laws that punished drivers criminally for refusing warrantless blood tests was struck down. But now in our home state, Rockford has established these policies that may run afoul of this decision. Once a person is arrested they’ll be asked to let a nurse perform a blood test, and if they don’t agree to it they can be charged with obstruction to justice and see jail time. The County States Attorney supports these endeavors:
“Under Illinois law, when you accept a driver’s license, you have given implied consent that upon a proper request by a law enforcement agency that you will supply your breath, blood or urine,” said Bruscato. So according to Bruscato when you go acquire your drivers license you’re also simultaneously agreeing that the Police can force you take a blood test at their request? A local DUI attorney Albert Altamore had a valid concern with the whole ordeal.
“How far do we push the constitution, until the people feel that they no longer have any rights,” questioned Altamore. You take him down to the police station, you get the search warrant, finally you get the search warrant, the blood test come back 0.7, Now, how is that going to help the prosecution of that case?”
The police would basically force you to wait there while they obtained a search warrant for a blood test which of course they’d get and then they take your blood without you having any choice in the matter. As pointed out by the Supreme Court,
DUI Defense
blood testing is invasive and forced blood testing can violate a person’s Fourth Amendment basic rights. The Supreme court has already determined that blood tests are highly invasive and charging people criminally for refusing them is wrong. There was the warrantless aspect to the Supreme Court case but the police in Winnebago will still force you to wait at the station while obtaining a warrant. So is that merely a semantic or a legitimate way around this Supreme Court decision? Time will tell. Additionally, Altamore makes a point that this process of obtaining a warrant will allow the drivers to sober up and actually might hurt drunk driving activism overall.
If you believe your rights have been violated within the state of Illinois do not hesitate to call Laura Law as we will be happy to help.
