Court Opinion

ID: 9752546
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 18:14:03.730424+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:17.328394
License: Public Domain

SHEA, Justice,
dissenting,
joined by KELLEHER, Justice.
As the majority notes, and as this court has said in the past, although the Federal Constitution establishes a minimum level of protection from governmental intrusions for all citizens of the United States, a state is free to interpret its own constitution to afford greater protection to the citizens of that state. State v. Benoit, 417 A.2d 895, 899 (R.I.1980) (citing Oregon v. Hass, 420 U.S. 714, 719, 95 S.Ct. 1215, 1219, 43 L.Ed.2d 570, 576 (1975)). However, “[t]he decision to depart from minimum standards and to increase the level of protection should be made guardedly and should be supported by a principled rationale.” Id. at 899.
As acknowledged by the majority, even though the United States Supreme Court has yet to consider the constitutionality of sobriety checkpoints, the Fourth Amendment’s minimum level of protection apparently would allow the type of nondiscretion-ary, minimally intrusive sobriety checkpoint at issue here. Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979). In United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 562, 96 S.Ct. 3074, 3085, 49 L.Ed.2d 1116, 1131 (1976), the Supreme Court approved the use of permanent immigration-checkpoint stops, saying that
“the reasonableness of the procedures followed in making these checkpoint stops makes the resulting intrusion on the interests of motorists minimal. * * * [T]he purpose of the stops is legitimate and in the public interest, and the need for this enforcement technique is demonstrated by the records in the cases before us.”
These checkpoint stops were specifically distinguished from the random, roving immigration-patrol stops that were found to violate the Fourth Amendment in United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873, 95 S.Ct. 2574, 45 L.Ed.2d 607 (1975), because, although the objective intrusion of a checkpoint — the stops, the questioning, the visual inspection — is nearly identical to that found in random roving-patrol stops, the subjective intrusion — the traveler’s concern or fear — is appreciably less. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. at 558, 96 S.Ct. at 3083, 49 L.Ed.2d at 1129. “At traffic checkpoints the motorist can see that other vehicles are being stopped, he can see visible signs of the officers’ authority, and he is much less likely to be frightened or annoyed by the intrusion.” Id. (quoting United States v. Ortiz, 422 U.S. 891, 894-95, 95 S.Ct. 2585, 2587, 45 L.Ed.2d 623, 628 (1975)).
In 1979, the Court further elaborated on this theme, stating that
“[absent an] articulable and reasonable suspicion that a motorist is unlicensed or that an automobile is not registered, or that either the vehicle or an occupant is otherwise subject to seizure for violation of law, stopping an automobile and detaining the driver in order to check his driver’s license and the registration of *1354the automobile are unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. * * * [PJersons in automobiles on public roadways may not for that reason alone have their travel and privacy interfered with at the unbridled discretion of police officers.” Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. at 663, 99 S.Ct. at 1401, 59 L.Ed.2d at 673-74.
However, in reaching this conclusion, the Supreme Court specifically stated that
“this holding does not preclude the State of Delaware or other States from developing methods for spot checks that involve less intrusion or that do not involve the unconstrained exercise of discretion. Questioning of all oncoming traffic at roadblock-type stops is one possible alternative.” (Emphasis added.) Id.
The central issue in the case before the court is not whether the Warren police department’s sobriety checkpoint was justified. According to Martinez and Prouse, and given Rhode Island’s concern for drunk driving, such a roadblock-type sobriety checkpoint could be justified under the Fourth Amendment. Rather, the issue before us is whether, based on art. I, sec. 6, of the Rhode Island Constitution, there is a justifiable and “principled rationale,” Benoit, 417 A.2d at 899, for this court to depart from the minimum level of protection established by the Fourth Amendment. I do not believe so.
Textually, the Fourth Amendment and art. I, sec. 6, are virtually identical. The purpose of both of these constitutional mandates essentially is “to impose a standard of ‘reasonableness’ upon the exercise of discretion by government officials, including law enforcement agents, in order ‘to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasions.’ ” Prouse, 440 U.S. at 653-54, 99 S.Ct. at 1396, 59 L.Ed.2d at 667; State v. Wilmot, 461 A.2d 401, 405 n. 5, 408 (R.I.1983) (the Fourth Amendment’s reasonableness standard, balancing public interest against individual rights, is found applicable to art. I, sec. 6, in a decision upholding the constitutionality of a warrantless search of an inmate’s cell). In the present case this “reasonableness standard” involves balancing the sobriety checkpoint’s promotion of legitimate governmental interests and public policy against its intrusion on an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights. Prouse, 440 U.S. at 653, 99 S.Ct. at 1396, 59 L.Ed.2d at 667. In cases in which a governmental intrusion lacks the degree of reasonable suspicion or probable cause normally required for a warrantless search and seizure, governmental interests and public policy will be found to outweigh an individual’s rights only if they are legitimate public interest concerns and are accompanied by safeguards limiting the discretionary and intrusive nature of the governmental practice. See id. at 654-55, 99 S.Ct. at 1396-97, 59 L.Ed.2d at 668.
Several states have approved the use of sobriety checkpoints when they employed the safeguards deemed necessary for the practice to pass constitutional muster.3 In Little v. State, 300 Md. 485, 499-500, 479 A.2d 903, 910 (1984) (quoting Commonwealth v. McGeoghegan, 389 Mass. 137, 143, 449 N.E.2d 349, 353 (1983)), the Maryland Supreme Court reasoned:
“For a roadblock to be permissible, it appears that the selection of motor vehicles to be stopped must not be arbitrary, safety must be assured, motorists’ inconvenience must be minimized, and assurance must be given that the procedure is being conducted pursuant to a plan devised by law enforcement supervisory personnel. While we do not suggest that advance notice is a constitutional necessity, advance publication of the *1355date of an intended roadblock, even without announcing its precise location, would have the virtue of reducing surprise, fear, and inconvenience.”
In a 1988 decision the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reconfirmed the necessity and purpose of comporting with these guidelines:
“Adherence to these guidelines * * * assures that a roadblock seizure is the result of a ‘plan embodying explicit, neutral limitations on the conduct of individual officers.’ * * * Conducting roadblocks in accordance with such neutral criteria minimizes the risk ‘that the individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy [will be] “subject to the discretion of the official in the field.” ’ * * * Adherence to the guidelines’ requirements also assures that the surprise, fear, and inconvenience to — and therefore the intrusion on — the motoring public is minimized.” Commonwealth v. Shields, 402 Mass. 162, 165, 521 N.E.2d 987, 989-90 (1988).
In this case the sobriety checkpoint guidelines are clearly articulated and comport with the constitutional concerns expressed by our sister states and the United States Supreme Court. The guidelines state:
1. The checkpoint site is chosen by administrators and supervisors relying on their awareness of problem areas where accidents and arrests for drunken driving have occurred. In the choice of a site, consideration is also to be given to the safety of and the minimal intrusion to drivers.
2. The date, but not the location, of the intended checkpoint must be announced. In order to educate the public about the purpose of the checkpoint and to deter drunk driving a press release will be published at least two days in advance.
3. Each checkpoint must be planned in advance, and all specifics must be prearranged in order to eliminate any possibility of random or arbitrary implementation.
4. The officers may not arbitrarily select vehicles to be stopped. Either every vehicle or a set number of vehicles, for example, one in every ten passing cars, must be stopped.
5. A supervisor must be present at all checkpoints.
6. In order to ensure safety and to minimize public fear or apprehension of the checkpoint, each checkpoint must have signs, road flares, police cruisers with flashing lights, and a sufficient number of uniformed police officers. Each vehicle may be stopped for one minute or less.
7. The officer must give a “brief and courteous” statement to each driver articulating the purpose of the stop. Only if there is an “articulable sign of possible intoxication will further inquirfy] be warranted.”
8. The officer may then pull the car off the road, request a license and registration, and ask the driver to perform certain motor-coordination teste.
These guidelines clearly protect motorists from the discretionary conduct of individual police officers and would cause minimal inconvenience, fear, or surprise. The minimal intrusion on the driver’s privacy rights is reasonable and fully within the safeguards provided by art. I, sec. 6, of the Rhode Island Constitution. The majority fails to consider the compelling public interest in deterring drunk driving and safeguarding against the devastating injury and damage caused by so many drunk drivers. I therefore would hold that stopping individuals in sobriety checkpoints without individualized suspicion or probable cause for the purpose of apprehending or deterring drunk drivers is permissible under the language of art. I, sec. 6.
I agree with the majority that there are many areas of criminal conduct that the state has a significant interest in deterring or prosecuting, including murder, burglary, and drug sales. I would note, however, that the majority ponders an issue much broader than the one before us: whether a well-supervised, systematic sobriety checkpoint which safeguards against any discre*1356tionary or arbitrary acts by a police officer and protects the driver’s privacy rights to the greatest extent possible, violates an individual’s rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution or art. I, sec. 6, of the Rhode Island Constitution. I do not foresee the heinous violations to each individual’s civil liberties that are dramatized by the majority. Here we consider the narrow application of this checkpoint regulation with the strict standards set forth by the Supreme Court and our sister states. I believe these standards properly balance the interests of the public welfare against the individual’s constitutionally mandated right to privacy.
The sobriety checkpoint in question fully comports with the level of protection set forth in the Rhode Island Constitution.

. State v. Golden, 171 Ga.App. 27, 318 S.E.2d 693 (1984); State v. Deskins, 234 Kan. 529, 673 P.2d 1174 (1983); People v. Long, 124 IIl.App.3d 1030, 80 Ill.Dec. 332, 465 N.E.2d 123 (1984); State v. Garcia, 481 N.E.2d 148 (Ind.Ct.App.1985); State v. Kirk, 202 N.J.Super. 28, 493 A.2d 1271 (1985); and State v. Martin, 145 Vt. 562, 496 A.2d 442 (1985). According to a recent law-review article, twenty-nine states have addressed the issue of the constitutionality of sobriety checkpoints. Twenty states have upheld the use of licensing or sobriety checkpoints. Of the nine states holding them unconstitutional, three have subsequently upheld the use of checkpoints relying on the specific regulations at issue. Bruce, State v. Welch: Drunk Drivers, Roadblocks and the Fourth Amendment, 57 U.M.K.C.L.Rev. 29, 36-37 & nn. 69-71 (1988).