ABA Family Legal Guide

Automobiles

Your Automobile and the Police

Roadblocks

What would constitute an unconstitutional roadblock?

In a 2000 case entitled City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, the U. S. Supreme Court struck down vehicle checkpoints set up to intercept unlawful drugs. The Court explained that because the checkpoint program's primary purpose was indistinguishable from the general interest in crime control, the checkpoints violated the Fourth Amendment. The checkpoint program was unlike the roadblocks the Court previously had approved, "which were designed to serve purposes closely related to the problems of policing the border or the necessity of ensuring roadway safety." The Court went on to say that its holding "does not alter the constitutional status of searches in airports and government buildings, where the need for such measures to ensure public safety can be particularly acute. Nor does it impair police officers' ability to act appropriately upon information that they properly learn during a checkpoint stop justified by a lawful primary purpose."