A high school student in Grosse Ile Township, Michigan, filed a lawsuit Monday, after a police officer cited her for failing to undergo a breathalyzer test without a search warrant.
Casey Guthrie is challenging a local ordinance and a state law that both allow officers to perform Breathalyzers on those under 21 years old if they have a reasonable cause to believe alcohol has been consumed. Under the Michigan Liquor Control Code, those who refuse to undergo the test are cited for a civil infraction and may be ordered to pay a fine of no more than $100.
The lawsuit comes out of an incident in May, when Casey was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over by Sergeant Ken Pelland. Pelland asked those in the car to partake in a Breathalyzer test to …show more content…
“That’s not the way the criminal justice system works."
Casey’s lawsuit is actually not unusual for Michigan. As The Detroit Free Press reports:
Over the past decade in Michigan, judges have struck down warrantless Breathalyzer tests three times, most recently in 2007, when U.S. District Judge David Lawson struck down a state law that allowed police to force pedestrians under the age of 21 to take a Breathalyzer without first obtaining a search warrant.
In a 32-page opinion, Lawson concluded the state law violated the Fourth Amendment. But his ruling does not apply to drivers of a motor vehicle.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two women, ages 18 and 19, who had attended high school graduation parties and were pressured into taking breath tests, even though neither had been drinking, records show. In one case, local police showed up at the 18-year-old's house at 4 a.m., woke up her family and demanded that she take a breath test, noting her refusal to do so would be considered unlawful.
The teenager took the test, which registered a .00% blood-alcohol level, records
Casey Guthrie is challenging a local ordinance and a state law that both allow officers to perform Breathalyzers on those under 21 years old if they have a reasonable cause to believe alcohol has been consumed. Under the Michigan Liquor Control Code, those who refuse to undergo the test are cited for a civil infraction and may be ordered to pay a fine of no more than $100.
The lawsuit comes out of an incident in May, when Casey was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over by Sergeant Ken Pelland. Pelland asked those in the car to partake in a Breathalyzer test to …show more content…
“That’s not the way the criminal justice system works."
Casey’s lawsuit is actually not unusual for Michigan. As The Detroit Free Press reports:
Over the past decade in Michigan, judges have struck down warrantless Breathalyzer tests three times, most recently in 2007, when U.S. District Judge David Lawson struck down a state law that allowed police to force pedestrians under the age of 21 to take a Breathalyzer without first obtaining a search warrant.
In a 32-page opinion, Lawson concluded the state law violated the Fourth Amendment. But his ruling does not apply to drivers of a motor vehicle.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two women, ages 18 and 19, who had attended high school graduation parties and were pressured into taking breath tests, even though neither had been drinking, records show. In one case, local police showed up at the 18-year-old's house at 4 a.m., woke up her family and demanded that she take a breath test, noting her refusal to do so would be considered unlawful.
The teenager took the test, which registered a .00% blood-alcohol level, records