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State v. Hicks9/11/2001
ly when the State makes the required showing, as it has previously done with sobriety checkpoints, may courts accept the presence of the compelling interest and proceed to further analyze the roadblock under this decision and Downey.
Using a rationale similar to that sometimes adopted by the intermediate court, the concurring-dissenting opinion in this case opines that the State possesses a "vital" interest in maintaining drivers' license roadblocks sufficient to permit suspicionless stops. More specifically, the concurring-dissenting opinion presumes that such roadblocks are urgently needed because (1) persons too young to drive pose a threat to public safety, and (2) persons who have had their licenses suspended for DUI convictions or traffic offenses often disregard that suspension, thereby endangering public safety on the roads. We do not disagree that such concerns may be present, and if these concerns demonstrate a real need to curb a substantial and imminent threat to the safety of motorists on public roads, which distinctly results from the conduct of these unlicensed drivers, then the first prong of the Downey test will have been satisfied. Indeed, it is for these reasons, and perhaps some others, that we have clarified the State's burden of proving the presence of these concerns in future cases.
To be sure, however, the record in this case contains absolutely no proof of the urgent necessities identified by the concurring-dissenting opinion, and mere suspicions and conjectures of the possibilities of such dangers are never adequate to justify abrogation of constitutional liberties. History has demonstrated that the infinite faculties of mankind are such that one may devise any supposed danger or peril to justify further erosion of constitutionally protected liberties. If these factually unsupported suppositions could justify further abrogation of the warrant requirement of Article I, section 7, then every protection now guaranteed by this important provision would be subject to the irrational assault of pretended evils certain to follow. Merely declaring that the interest exists in theory is not the same as demonstrating that the need exists in fact.
Furthermore, by alleviating the State's burden of production regarding its compelling interest, the concurring-dissenting opinion essentially places the burden on the defendant to retain his or her constitutional protections under Article I, section 7 by disputing the State's presumed interest. This Court has always required the State to bring forth evidence to demonstrate the propriety of a warrantless search. By presuming the presence of a sufficiently compelling interest without proof in the record of any real dangers involved, the concurring-dissenting opinion takes a perilous step in a path that shifts the burden of proof to the defendant to show the lack of a sufficiently compelling interest justifying a warrantless seizure. If other courts have taken similar paths as the concurring-dissenting opinion has attested, Article I, section 7 demands that we take the road less traveled.
Finally, the concurring-dissenting opinion expresses the concern that the requirements for establishing the presence of a sufficiently compelling state interest are too burdensome. These requirements are precisely those demanded by Downey itself, and the extent of the burden is neither more nor less than was required by that case. Indeed, while the burden to be carried by the State may be heavy, one may legitimately question what purpose is served by abrogating Downey when the label of the roadblock is changed. Just as the Court looked to proof of a sufficiently compelling interest in Downey to justify sobriety checkpoints, we must al
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