ABA Family Legal Guide

Automobiles

Your Automobile and the Police

Roadblocks

What are the constitutional constraints on roadblocks?

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a search or seizure (such as at a checkpoint on the road) is unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment unless there is individualized suspicion of wrongdoing--that is, unless the police have a particular reason to pull a particular driver over--but there are a limited number of exceptions. For example, the Court has upheld brief, suspicionless seizures at a fixed checkpoint designed to intercept illegal aliens, and at a sobriety checkpoint aimed at removing drunk drivers from the road. The Court has also suggested that a similar roadblock to verify driver's licenses and registrations would be permissible to serve a highway safety interest.