Opinion ID: 895973
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: checkpoint constitutionality

Text: [¶ 6] A Fourth Amendment seizure occurs when a vehicle is stopped by police at a checkpoint. Michigan Dep't of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444, 450, 110 S.Ct. 2481, 2485, 110 L.Ed.2d 412 (1990); State v. Everson, 474 N.W.2d 695, 698 (N.D. 1991); State v. Wetzel, 456 N.W.2d 115, 117-118 (N.D.1990). However, individualized reasonable suspicion is not required for checkpoint stops. United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 561-562, 96 S.Ct. 3074, 3084-3085, 49 L.Ed.2d 1116 (1976). Checkpoint stops nevertheless present important concerns under the Fourth Amendment and Section 8, Article I of the North Dakota Constitution. See Sitz, 496 U.S. at 450, 110 S.Ct. at 2485; Everson, 474 N.W.2d at 698-699. The basic question is whether the seizure is reasonable. [¶ 7] To assess the reasonableness of a checkpoint stop under both the federal and state constitutions, we employ a three-part analysis, balancing the State's interest in the checkpoint's purpose against the degree that the checkpoint advances that interest and the severity of the intrusion upon the individual's liberty. Sitz, 496 U.S. at 448-449, 110 S.Ct. at 2484-2485; City of Bismarck v. Uhden, 513 N.W.2d 373, 378 (N.D.1994). We have approved other types of highway checkpoints under this constitutional standard. See Uhden, 513 N.W.2d at 379 (sobriety checkpoint); Everson, 474 N.W.2d at 703 (checkpoint for drugs, drivers license, and vehicle registration); Wetzel, 456 N.W.2d at 121 (safety inspection checkpoint). This is the first time we have considered a game-and-fish checkpoint. [¶ 8] Courts elsewhere have employed the same balancing analysis to uphold the constitutionality of game-and-fish checkpoints. See People v. Perez, 51 Cal.App.4th 1168, 59 Cal.Rptr.2d 596 (1996); State v. McHugh, 630 So.2d 1259 (La.1994); State v. Sherburne, 571 A.2d 1181 (Me.1990); Drane v. State, 493 So.2d 294 (Miss.1986); State v. Tourtillott, 289 Or. 845, 618 P.2d 423 (1980); State v. Halverson, 277 N.W.2d 723 (S.D. 1979); see also John Wesley Hall, Jr., Search and Seizure § 17:11 (2d ed.1991); Jeffrey F. Ghent, Annotation, Validity of Roadblocks by State or Local Officials for Purpose of Enforcing Fish or Game Laws, 87 A.L.R.4th 981 (1991). [1] We use the three-part balancing analysis here. [¶ 9] The first part of the analysis requires us to assess the importance of the public interest served by the checkpoint. The State owns all wildlife within its borders for the purpose of regulating the enjoyment, use, possession, disposition, and conservation thereof. NDCC 20.1-01-03. This court has long recognized the great and urgent need of legislation for protection and conservation of our big game. State v. Miller, 129 N.W.2d 356, 364 (N.D.1964); see also State v. Reich, 298 N.W.2d 468, 473 (N.D.1980). As precedents elsewhere have recognized, see Perez, 59 Cal.Rptr.2d at 600; State v. Medley, 127 Idaho 182, 898 P.2d 1093, 1097 (1995); McHugh, 630 So.2d at 1264-1265; Sherburne, 571 A.2d at 1184; Halverson, 277 N.W.2d at 724, the State has a compelling interest in managing and preserving its wildlife. [¶ 10] We analyze the degree that this checkpoint advanced the State's legitimate interest in protecting and preserving wildlife. In doing so, we bear in mind the Supreme Court's admonition that this part of the balancing analysis was not meant to transfer from politically accountable officials to the courts the decision as to which among reasonable alternative law enforcement techniques should be employed to deal with a serious public danger.... [F]or purposes of Fourth Amendment analysis, the choice among such reasonable alternatives remains with the governmental officials who have a unique understanding of, and a responsibility for, limited public resources, including a finite number of police officers. Sitz, 496 U.S. at 453-454, 110 S.Ct. at 2487; see also Everson, 474 N.W.2d at 700. Game wardens surely face a daunting task when attempting to enforce the game laws in a rural region like North Dakota. In assessing the need for checkpoints to do so, courts have stressed the limited manpower available to game officials, the vast and remote areas where hunting usually occurs, and the difficulty in detecting game violations without suspicionless stops. See Perez, 59 Cal. Rptr.2d at 600; Medley, 898 P.2d at 1097-1098; McHugh, 630 So.2d at 1267; Sherburne, 571 A.2d at 1184-1185; Tourtillott, 618 P.2d at 430; Halverson, 277 N.W.2d at 724. As McHugh at 1270, explained, checkpoints are often the least restrictive means of effectively enforcing the game-and-fish laws. [¶ 11] This checkpoint was designed to maximize its effectiveness. It was set up on a highway coming out of probable hunting areas. It was conducted between 3:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. on a Sunday afternoon during hunting season, when many hunters would be returning home. We conclude this checkpoint was an effective means of advancing the State's interest in preserving and managing wildlife. [¶ 12] Albaugh asserts the State failed to meet its burden of demonstrating the effectiveness of this checkpoint because the State did not present statistical evidence comparing the total number of vehicles stopped to the number of violations discovered. That ratio may be viewed as one indicator of the effectiveness of a checkpoint. See, e.g., Sitz, 496 U.S. at 454-455;, 110 S.Ct. at 2487-2488 Everson, 474 N.W.2d at 702-703. However, there is no absolute requirement that such a ratio be determined in every case. The effectiveness of the checkpoint is but one factor to be weighed under the balancing test, Everson, 474 N.W.2d at 703 n. 3, and the ratio of violations to total vehicles stopped is but one evidentiary means of assessing effectiveness. See 4 Wayne R. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 10.8(d) (1996) (`effectiveness' ... is a matter which need not be measured solely in terms of the number of perpetrators apprehended). Besides apprehending violators, checkpoints serve the additional purpose of deterring illegal conduct. See 4 LaFave, at § 10.8(d); Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. at 557, 96 S.Ct. at 3082-3083. The constitutionality of a checkpoint calls for balancing several competing interests, and it is not susceptible of a precise mathematical calculation. [¶ 13] This checkpoint was conducted for three hours on a Sunday afternoon in a rural area. In that short time, the Department stopped 117 vehicles carrying hunters and discovered fourteen game violations. The effectiveness of this checkpoint compares favorably with checkpoint results upheld in Sitz, where 1.6 percent of the drivers stopped at a sobriety checkpoint were arrested, and Martinez-Fuerte, where only .12 percent of the vehicles stopped contained illegal aliens. See Sitz, 496 U.S. at 454-455, 110 S.Ct. at 2487-2488; Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. at 554, 96 S.Ct. at 3081. In Everson, 474 N.W.2d at 702-703, we upheld the drug-interdiction phase of a multi-purpose checkpoint even though the four-day checkpoint found only two drug violations, or .196 percent of the total vehicles stopped. We conclude that this checkpoint, identifying fourteen game violations in three hours, was reasonably effective. [¶ 14] Finally, we consider this checkpoint's intrusion upon individual liberty. Checkpoints in general physically intrude minimally on the motoring public. Sitz, 496 U.S. at 451-452, 110 S.Ct. at 2485-2486; Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. at 557-558, 96 S.Ct. at 3082-3083; Everson, 474 N.W.2d at 702. The physical intrusiveness in this case was slight. Chrest stopped each vehicle and asked whether the occupants had been hunting. If the answers were no, he sent them on their way at once. The entire stop took a matter of seconds. A longer stop occurred only if the occupants had been hunting or if, as in this case, some other violation was discovered during the brief initial stop. [2] [¶ 15] The psychological intrusion on occupants was also minimized by the methods used to implement the checkpoint. All vehicles were stopped, rather than giving officers discretion to select vehicles; warning signs notified motorists of the checkpoint a significant distance ahead; all officers wore uniforms; and vehicles with insignias and red lights informed motorists about the official character of the checkpoint. As our guiding precedents have concluded, Sitz, 496 U.S. at 452-453, 110 S.Ct. at 2486-2487; Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. at 558, 96 S.Ct. at 3083; Uhden, 513 N.W.2d at 378-379; Wetzel, 456 N.W.2d at 118, these facts demonstrate minimal psychological intrusion on individual liberty. [¶ 16] One aspect of psychological intrusion to consider is the amount of discretion given individual officers in conducting the checkpoint. A central concern in balancing the competing societal interests is to assure that an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy is not subject to arbitrary invasions solely at the unfettered discretion of officers in the field. Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47, 51, 99 S.Ct. 2637, 2640, 61 L.Ed.2d 357 (1979); see also State v. Goehring, 374 N.W.2d 882, 888 (N.D.1985). Here, the checkpoint was conducted under a comprehensive policy formally adopted by the Department. Approval was obtained from the local state's attorney before conducting the checkpoint. The wardens and officers attended a briefing before conducting the checkpoint to ensure all policy directions were complied with. All vehicles were stopped, a single question was asked, and drivers who had not been hunting were detained only momentarily. Under these circumstances, the officers had little or no discretion in the conduct of the checkpoint. [¶ 17] Albaugh argues, however, that there was an unconstitutional element of discretion because the officers followed and stopped vehicles that turned off onto a nearby gravel road to avoid the checkpoint if it looked like they had been hunting. Chief Danzeisen testified he stopped only one vehicle avoiding the checkpoint. Albaugh asserts this exercise of discretion made the entire checkpoint constitutionally invalid. [¶ 18] Albaugh cites no factually similar cases holding such conduct condemns the checkpoint. Furthermore, as Uhden, 513 N.W.2d at 378 n. 8, indicates, this minimal exercise of discretion as to one vehicle is but one relevant factor in the overall analysis of the intrusiveness of the stop and, by itself, is not conclusive. [¶ 19] Weighing the State's compelling interest in preserving its wildlife, the effectiveness of this method used to advance that interest, and the minimal level of intrusiveness, we conclude this checkpoint was constitutional.