Produced by:
KBOO
Program::
Air date:
Wed, 07/02/2014 - 12:00am
Eugene police will engage in forced blood tests over 4th of July weekend
Eugene listeners will be interested to know that if they’re stopped at a police checkpoint this coming weekend, they had better agree to perform a Breathalyzer test, or risk being forced to have their blood drawn by the police.
During the coming holiday weekend in Eugene, police will implement a policy to forcibly draw blood from people who refuse to take an alcohol Breathalyzer test.
The so-called ‘no refusal’ policy will likely result in people being strapped down to gurneys and forced to have their blood drawn.
That’s been the result of ‘no refusal’ policies in other cities where they’ve been implemented.
Driving under the influence is a misdemeanor charge. Forced blood tests are not required for any other misdemeanor charges, including drug possession. But they are allowed for people suspected of drunk driving.
In Georgia, forced blood draws have become a standard practice over the last several years, but lawyers there have challenged the practice as unconstitutional.
Bob Chestney is an Atlanta-based lawyer who has filed legal challenges to the practice of forced blood draws. He is one of a group of lawyers that are challenging the practice of forced blood draws.
In Oregon, no lawyers have filed a challenge, and the ACLU told reporters that as long as the police get a search warrant for the blood, they are within the law.
But other civil liberties advocates say that strapping people down to a gurney and forcing them to submit to a blood draw is a violation of the fourth amendment ban on illegal search and seizure.
- KBOO
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