Mysterious sobriety checkpoint to take St. Louis by storm

The Metropolitan Police Department sent out a press release Monday, June 23 warning the public to be wary of intersections this Friday – any one of them, at any time, could be host to a sobriety checkpoint.

Monday’s release follows an earlier statement on May 27th announcing the plan to have a sobriety checkpoint in St. Louis sometime in June.

Sobriety checkpoints have been plagued with controversy concerning intrusiveness and individual rights. Generally, according to the Fourth Amendment, the government does not have the right to search a citizen without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. So in keeping with the guidelines to minimize intrusiveness, set out by the California Supreme Court in Ingersol v. Palmer (1987), the Police Department is expected to provide “advance publicity regarding each checkpoint;” hence, the press release.

However, the time and place of the looming checkpoint remain a mystery; so if anyone makes the unfortunate decision to drink and drive, it shouldn't be Friday (or any other day for that matter).