CA Court Eases Warrantless Blood Draws
Thanks for nothing
California's second highest court on Thursday made it easier for police to forcibly draw blood from motorists suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). In coming to this conclusion, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision in seven Alameda County cases brought before the Superior Court's Appellate Division where drivers had their blood taken at a jail facility.
Though the drivers in these cases consented to the blood draw, the circumstances raised enough of a Fourth Amendment consideration for the lower court to find the government's actions illegal. In particular, the judges did not believe that a police officer was qualified to testify that the blood draw was performed by a medical professional in an appropriate manner, as required under state law. The Court of Appeal stepped in to set a precedent restoring the state's ability to perform warrantless blood draws in a wider variety of circumstances.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?