BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1389
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1389 (Allen)
As Amended September 2, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |54-22|(May 27, 2011) |SENATE: |21-19|(September 8, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY : Sets standards for the establishment and operation of
sobriety checkpoints.
The Senate amendments :
1)Allow an officer to detain a motorist stopped at a sobriety
checkpoint in order to briefly question the driver. If the
driver does not display objective signs of impairment, the
driver would be required to be permitted to drive on without
further delay unless during the questioning by the officer,
the officer develops reasonable suspicion of a violation of
law.
2)Specify that these provisions do not limit or expand the
authority of an officer to conduct a test for impairment that
is otherwise permitted by law.
3)Require the law enforcement agency to provide advance notice
to the public of the checkpoint's general location at least 48
hours prior to the checkpoint operation and to provide advance
notice to the public of the checkpoint's specific location at
least two hours prior to the checkpoint operation.
4)Provide that a driver who does not wish to submit to the
checkpoint does not raise probable cause or reasonable
suspicion if he or she simply makes a legal turn within the
confines of the existing traffic laws to avoid a checkpoint.
5)Require the law enforcement agency to conduct the checkpoint
AB 1389
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after dusk or at a time and for a duration that are reasonable
and effective to the objective of deterring DUI offenses.
6)Require the driver of a motor vehicle who elects to drive
through the checkpoint to stop and submit to an inspection
conducted when signs and displays are posted requiring that
stop.
7)Delete provisions in the bill that previously dealt with
vehicle impoundments.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows a peace officer who determines that a person was
driving a vehicle without ever having been issued a driver's
license, to either immediately arrest that person and cause
the removal and seizure of that vehicle or, if the vehicle is
involved in a traffic collision, cause the removal and seizure
of the vehicle without the necessity of arresting the person.
2)Provides that such an impoundment will be for 30 days.
3)Allows counties, by ordinance, to establish on highways under
their respective jurisdictions, a combined vehicle inspection
and sobriety checkpoint program to check for violations of
vehicle exhaust standards and to identify drivers who are
driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or are persons
under 21 driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .05 or
more.
4)Requires such a program to be conducted by the local agency or
department with the primary responsibility for traffic law
enforcement.
5)Requires the driver of a motor vehicle to stop and submit to
an inspection conducted under these provisions when signs and
displays are posted requiring that stop.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill is substantially similar to
the version passed in the Senate.
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : Proponents of this bill contend that in recent years,
sobriety checkpoints have increasingly targeted unlicensed
drivers whose cars may then be impounded. (These impoundments
are typically for a term of 30 days, which can effectively
result in the forfeiture of the car, since towing and
impoundment fees may well exceed the value of the vehicle.) In
2009, they complain, police impounded more than 24,000 vehicles
at checkpoints, roughly seven times higher than the 3,200 drunk
driving arrests at roadway operations. Some agencies, in fact,
tow as many as 20 vehicles of unlicensed drivers for each DUI
arrest made, according to a 2010 report by the Investigative
Reporting Program at the University of California, Berkeley.
The percentage of vehicle seizures in these roadway operations
has increased 53% statewide compared to 2007.
Proponents further assert that "sobriety checkpoints are set up
in areas that do not have a high correlation of DUI arrests or
accidents, and target certain neighborhoods or locations where
high populations of low-income families or other low-income
communities. In one Northern California community that is
predominantly Latino, DUI checkpoints have resulted in 121
impounded cars compared to just 4 DUI arrests in a 2-year
period."
The California Supreme Court in 1987 rendered a decision on the
premiere California roadblock case, Ingersoll v. Palmer (1987)
43 Cal.3d 1321. This decision set the standard for how law
enforcement agencies must conduct roadblocks sobriety
checkpoints. The Supreme Court identified a number of factors
for minimizing intrusiveness on the individual while balancing
the needs of society in keeping drunk drivers off the road:
decision-making at the supervisory level, limits on the
discretion of field officers, maintenance of safety conditions,
reasonable location, time and duration, visibility of the
roadblock, length and nature of detention, and advance
publicity. Furthermore, in the case of Miranda v. City of
Cornelius (9th Cir. 2005, 429 F.3d 858), the 9th Circuit Court
of Appeals held that a car that can be safely parked by a
licensed driver may not be impounded under the "community
caretaker provision." This bill is intended to codify the
standards established by those decisions.
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Immigrants' rights groups contend law enforcement agencies often
conduct checkpoints in broad daylight or in locations unrelated
to patterns of drunk driving, "which demonstrates the need for
statewide uniformity and the need for specific guidelines to
make the checkpoints as effective as possible in order to
enhance public safety for all Californians. Even when there are
safe and reasonable alternatives, authorities are also
impounding cars of unlicensed drivers at checkpoints and leaving
people on the street, in some cases with small children, to find
their way home. AB 1389 will enhance community-policing efforts
on the ground by providing both law enforcement agencies and the
communities they serve clear guidance and expectations on
checkpoints."
Related legislation: AB 353 (Cedillo) provides for the early
release of a vehicle seized at a sobriety checkpoint due to its
driver being unlicensed. Similar provisions were in earlier
versions of this bill. AB 353 is currently in enrollment.
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
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