Opinion ID: 2324370
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Severity of the Interference with the Constitutionally-Protected Liberty Interest

Text: [¶ 16] The Fourth Amendment protects the individual's reasonable desire for privacy, which arises from the right to be let alonethe most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 478, 48 S.Ct. 564, 72 L.Ed. 944 (1928) (Brandeis, J., dissenting). Every traffic stop involves some degree of interference with that liberty interest because the motorist, whether law-abiding or not, loses the freedom to travel without interruption. The resulting intrusion on a person's individual autonomy is not insubstantial. In his testimony, the trooper agreed that once he initiated his stop of LaPlante's motorcycle by activating the blue lights of his cruiser, LaPlante was obligated to pull over, was not free to leave, and was seized for [all] effective purposes. See Brewer, 1999 ME 58, ¶ 12, 727 A.2d at 355 (discussing when an officer's interaction with a citizen constitutes a seizure). Furthermore, if law enforcement officers routinely stopped motorists to inquire about third-party speeding offenses, the aggregate damage to individual liberty would be great. [¶ 17] In addition, none of the elements that have been found to lessen the severity of the interference with the liberty interest when a motorist is stopped in the absence of reasonable articulable suspicion are present here. The decisions upholding information-seeking roadblock stops have noted that the severity of the intrusion is minimized when the stop is brief, unlikely to cause anxiety, and planned ahead so as to minimize officer discretion in the field. For example, in Gorneault, the interference with a motorist's liberty interest was characterized as slight when the stop was brief and the officer stopped every vehicle that passed. 2007 ME 49, ¶¶ 2, 3, 9, 918 A.2d at 1208, 1209; see also State v. Cloukey, 486 A.2d 143, 146 (Me.1985) (listing the factors we use to evaluate the reasonableness of a roadblock stop, including the length of the stop, the degree of discretion left to the officer, and the degree of fear or anxiety likely instilled in the motorist generated by the mode of operation). [¶ 18] Similarly, in Lidster, a roadblock stop interfered only minimally with a motorist's constitutionally-protected liberty interest because each stop lasted about ten to fifteen seconds, motorists could see the roadblock in advance because police cars with flashing lights partially blocked the highway, and the police stopped all vehicles systematically. 540 U.S. at 422, 427, 428, 124 S.Ct. 885; see also Michigan Dep't of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444, 453, 110 S.Ct. 2481, 110 L.Ed.2d 412 (1990) (stating that checkpoint stops are less, intrusive than roving-patrol stops because roving patrols often operate at night on seldom-traveled roads, and their approach may frighten motorists) (quotation marks omitted); United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 547, 567, 96 S.Ct. 3074, 49 L.Ed.2d 1116 (1976) (upholding the constitutionality of checkpoint stops of three to five minutes). [¶ 19] In contrast with Gorneault and Lidster, in State v. Kent, we recently concluded that a stop and seizure resulting from a sobriety checkpoint was constitutionally unreasonable, noting that the detention of motorists for an average of three to five minutes, in the absence of accountability, oversight, or adherence to protocol, suggest[ed] more than a minimal intrusion of a motorist's liberty interest. 2011 ME 42, ¶¶ 13, 14, 15, 20, 15 A.3d 1286, 1289, 1290, 1291. We noted in that case that the crucial underlying criterion of reasonableness is the amount of discretion that a police officer is allowed to exercise in conducting a stop. Id. ¶ 16, 15 A.3d at 1290 (quotation marks omitted). [¶ 20] Here, none of the elements that might have minimized the interference with LaPlante's liberty interest were present. The trooper's stop of LaPlante was not part of a pre-planned roadblock and was, in all salient respects, a function of the trooper's individual discretion. La-Plante's stop was more likely to cause alarm and anxiety than a roadblock stop because upcoming roadblocks are clearly visible, whereas LaPlante had no indication that he would be stopped. See Sitz, 496 U.S. at 453, 110 S.Ct. 2481. Viewed objectively, once a motorist, such as La-Plante, submits to the authority of a law enforcement officer by pulling over and stopping, the motorist is not free to leave until given permission by the officer. [5] An individual who is pulled over under these circumstances, while operating in a manner consistent with the posted speed limit and all other laws, has no basis to know the reason for, or the likely length of, the stop that will ensue. [¶ 21] Because there were no formal restrictions on the trooper's exercise of discretion, and, under the circumstances of the stop, there was a significant potential to cause alarm and anxiety, the interference with LaPlante's liberty interest was significant.