TheOldSarge
New member
imported post
The article about this "no refusal weekend" is a little misleading. The reporter is trying for sensationalism. The first part of the article makes it sound like if you refuse, then, bang, you instantly have your blood drawn.
Only as you read all the article do you find out that the officer has to fill out on application for a search warrant and then find (and persuade) a judge to sign it. Then, and only then, can they compel you to be tested.
Of course, it is troubling that the forms are, apparently, already half way filled out. And there are some judges who are so favorable to law enforcement that they'd sign just about anything brought to them; they seem to just assume that if an officer asks, there must be probable cause.
I've worked for judges who were at either extreme. Some set their requirements so high that they almost never found probable cause, regardless of the evidence. I remember a bank robbery where we had sworn statements fromfour witnesses identifying the robbers. The judge would not let us search their apartment because we didn't have fingerprint evidence. Without fingerprint evidence, no warrant!
On the other hand, I worked for a judge who was so pro law enforcement that he liked to go along on aprehensions and searches so that he could issue warrants on the spot if needed (sometimes even as the search was being conducted- a little back-dating! Naughty, naughty!).
Anyway, law enforcementin Kane County better be careful or the ACLU will file a class action, with the claim that the preparation and the statements made prior to the "No Refusal Weekend " show that they deliberately planned to cast an "overly broad" net.
At least that's how I see it.
The article about this "no refusal weekend" is a little misleading. The reporter is trying for sensationalism. The first part of the article makes it sound like if you refuse, then, bang, you instantly have your blood drawn.
Only as you read all the article do you find out that the officer has to fill out on application for a search warrant and then find (and persuade) a judge to sign it. Then, and only then, can they compel you to be tested.
Of course, it is troubling that the forms are, apparently, already half way filled out. And there are some judges who are so favorable to law enforcement that they'd sign just about anything brought to them; they seem to just assume that if an officer asks, there must be probable cause.
I've worked for judges who were at either extreme. Some set their requirements so high that they almost never found probable cause, regardless of the evidence. I remember a bank robbery where we had sworn statements fromfour witnesses identifying the robbers. The judge would not let us search their apartment because we didn't have fingerprint evidence. Without fingerprint evidence, no warrant!
On the other hand, I worked for a judge who was so pro law enforcement that he liked to go along on aprehensions and searches so that he could issue warrants on the spot if needed (sometimes even as the search was being conducted- a little back-dating! Naughty, naughty!).
Anyway, law enforcementin Kane County better be careful or the ACLU will file a class action, with the claim that the preparation and the statements made prior to the "No Refusal Weekend " show that they deliberately planned to cast an "overly broad" net.
At least that's how I see it.