High Court: Warrantless Drunken-Driving Breath Tests Do Not Violate 4th Amendment

Mealey's (June 23, 2016, 12:59 PM EDT) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — A divided U.S. Supreme Court on June 23 ruled that the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “permits warrantless breath tests incident to arrests for drunk driving but not warrantless blood tests,” reversing, vacating and remanding, respectively, three cases concerning North Dakota and Minnesota laws that criminalize a driver’s refusal to submit to warrantless blood-alcohol tests (Danny Birchfield v. North Dakota, No. 14-1468, William Robert Bernard Jr. v. State of Minnesota, No. 14-1470, Steve M. Beylund v. Grant Levi, Director of the Department of Transportation, No. 14-1507, U.S. Sup.; 2016 U.S. LEXIS 4058)....