Roberts, Scalia Argue Undisturbed DWI Decision Grants ‘One Free Swerve’
Two dissenting justices argue the U.S. Supreme Court should have heard a case on the power of police to pull over drunken-driving suspects based only on anonymous tips.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued “a strong dissent” to the cert denial, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, SCOTUSblog reports.
At issue in Virginia v. Harris is whether police are required under the Fourth Amendment to corroborate a tip about drunken driving with their own observations before stopping a driver. The Virginia Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision that officers may not act until they observe the driver doing something unsafe.
“The effect of the rule below will be to grant drunk drivers ‘one free swerve’ before they can legally be pulled over by police,” the dissent (PDF) says. “It will be difficult for an officer to explain to the family of a motorist killed by that swerve that the police had a tip that the driver of the other car was drunk, but that they were powerless to pull him over, even for a quick check.”
