Court Opinion

ID: 9721979
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 09:13:46.695035+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:29.781222
License: Public Domain

THOREEN, Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent.
In Michigan Dep’t of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444, 448-49, 110 S.Ct. 2481, 2485, 110 L.Ed.2d 412 (1990), the Supreme Court set out standards for determining the constitutionality of a sobriety checkpoint. In Chock v. Commissioner of Pub. Safety, 458 N.W.2d 692, 693-94 (Minn.App.1990), this court clearly adopted and followed Sitz. See also State v. Larson, 485 N.W.2d 571, 572-73 (Minn.App.1992) (applying Sitz). Chock rejected an argument that this court should use independent state grounds to provide greater protection of rights than the Supreme, Court did in Sitz. Chock, 458 N.W.2d at 694.
The sobriety checkpoint at issue here was valid under the standards set forth in Sitz, 496 U.S. at 448-49, 110 S.Ct. at 2485, and Chock, 458 N.W.2d at 693-94. The presence of the media should not engender additional fear or surprise in a law-abiding citizen to the extent that the “subjective” intrusion becomes unconstitutional as a violation of the Fourth Amendment. See Sitz, 496 U.S. at 452-53, 110 S.Ct. at 2486-87 (discussion of subjective intrusion); Chock, 458 N.W.2d at 694 (same). As appellant makes no claim that he was photographed or filmed, no personal right of privacy was violated.
I would affirm the trial court under Sitz and Chock.