Time and Duration Requirements of DUI Checkpoints

DUI checkpoints can only pass constitutional muster where the initial screening is minimally intrusive and brief, and where only those drivers exhibiting signs of impairment are further detained to a secondary screening area. See Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz, (1990) and Ingersoll v. Palmer, (1987). Where a motorist merely acknowledges to having had a drink or two, but the officer does not detect any sign of impairment (either in the manner of driving or by the operator’s physical manifestations), then there is no constitutional basis for further detention to a secondary screening area.