Fourth Amendment dissed yet again
November 19, 2013Paul sends a link to this story from station KXAS in Dallas-Fort Worth. There’s video at the site (which starts with an obnoxious, unavoidable 10-second ad).
North Texas Drivers Stopped at Roadblock Asked for Saliva, Blood
Some drivers in North Fort Worth on Friday were stopped at police roadblock and directed into a parking lot, where they were asked by federal contractors for samples of their breath, saliva and even blood. The request was part of a government research study aimed at determining the number of drunken or drug-impaired drivers.
Some drivers along a busy Fort Worth street on Friday were stopped at a police roadblock and directed into a parking lot, where they were asked by federal contractors for samples of their breath, saliva and even blood.
It was part of a government research study aimed at determining the number of drunken or drug-impaired drivers.
“It just doesn’t seem right that you can be forced off the road when you’re not doing anything wrong,” said Kim Cope, who said she was on her lunch break when she was forced to pull over at the roadblock on Beach Street in North Fort Worth.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is spending $7.9 million on the survey over three years, said participation was “100 percent voluntary” and anonymous.
But Cope said it didn’t feel voluntary to her — despite signs saying it was.
“I gestured to the guy in front that I just wanted to go straight, but he wouldn’t let me and forced me into a parking spot,” she said.
I understand why Ms Cope didn’t tell these folks to take their ‘voluntary participation’ and stuff it. But how great would it have been if she had?
Remember to ask: Am I being detained?
No Truce With Kings 
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