Reply #8: Washington Post: Roberts: Decision could give drunk drivers 'one free swerve'

[Judi Lynn]

Roberts: Decision could give drunk drivers 'one free swerve'

By Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 20, 2009; 2:44 PM

A Virginia Supreme Court decision that overturned a drunk driving conviction could result in the commonwealth's intoxicated drivers being given "one free swerve" before being pulled over, with potentially disastrous consequences, U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote Tuesday.

The full Supreme Court said it would not review the 4-3 decision by Virginia's high court that an anonymous tip about an allegedly drunk driver was not sufficient to give law enforcement a reason to stop the person. As is customary, the justices did not give a reason for denying the commonwealth's request to review the decision.

But Roberts, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, said his colleagues were making a mistake.

"It will be difficult for an officer to explain to the family of a motorist killed by that swerve that the police had a tip that the driver of the other car was drunk, but that they were powerless to pull him over, even for a quick check," Roberts wrote in his dissent. He needed the support of three colleagues to review the Virginia decision.

In the case at hand, a Richmond police officer pulled over Joseph A. Moses Harris Jr. after receiving an anonymous tip that Harris was driving while intoxicated. The tip described Harris, his car and the direction in which he was driving, and police soon found him.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...