Dec 16, 2015
Supreme Court To Decide On Refusing Tests
The US Supreme Court has agreed to review three cases involving whether it is a crime to refuse a breath, blood or urine test, or not. A few years ago, Kansas made it a crime in and of itself to refuse to submit to tests, the penalties being the same as those for DUI. At issue is whether or not the refusal violates the 4th Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizures. A breath test IS a search, so the question is, is a warrant needed to obtain one? In that case, punishment for refusal, without the issuance of a warrant, would be a violation of the constitution. This may also affect us here in VT as it is currently a crime to refuse a test in VT when it is your second offense. We will be watching this closely to better assist our clients in advising them of their rights.