Pubdate: Thu, 30 Nov 2000
Source: News-Sentinel (IN)
Copyright: 2000 The News-Sentinel
Contact:  600 West Main Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Website: http://www.news-sentinel.com/ns/index.shtml
Author: Kevin Leininger, for the editorial board

WHAT DID THEY SAY?

Those who still think of America's judges as oracles of wisdom should 
consider the Supreme Court's decision this week to outlaw police roadblocks 
intended to search for drugs. Such searches, the court said in a 6-3 
decision, are an unreasonable invasion of constitutionally protected 
privacy. They're right.

But wait: The court noted that this decision does not affect other police 
roadblocks, such as drunken-driving checkpoints, which have already been 
found constitutional because the benefit to the public outweighs personal 
inconvenience. Got that? You can invade somebody's privacy to check for 
booze, which is legal, but not for cocaine, which is not. If you're not 
confused yet, consider: Indiana's Court of Appeals has just ruled that 
drunken-driving roadblocks are unconstitutional.

Maybe the lawyers for George W. Bush and Al Gore can straighten this out 
once they're done with the election stuff.
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