Sitz v. Department of State Police

485 N.W.2d 135, 193 Mich. App. 690
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 20, 1992
DocketDocket 131032
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 485 N.W.2d 135 (Sitz v. Department of State Police) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sitz v. Department of State Police, 485 N.W.2d 135, 193 Mich. App. 690 (Mich. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinions

McDonald, J.

This case has been remanded by the United States Supreme Court for further proceedings not inconsistent with Michigan Dep’t of State Police v Sitz, 496 US —; 110 S Ct 2481; 110 L Ed 2d 412 (1990). This Court previously affirmed the trial court’s decision and held that Michigan’s sobriety-checkpoint program violated the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and therefore Const 1963, art 1, § 11. Sitz v Dep’t of State Police, 170 Mich App 433; 429 NW2d 180 (1988), lv den 432 Mich 872 (1989), rev’d 496 US —; 110 S Ct 2481; 110 L Ed 2d 412 (1990). The United States Supreme Court reversed our decision and held a state’s use of highway sobriety checkpoints does not violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Sitz, 496 US —; 110 L Ed 2d 418. At issue here is whether sobriety checkpoints, while permitted by the United States Constitution, nevertheless violate the Michigan Constitution. We hold that they do.

The facts from which this search and seizure [693]*693question arises are not in dispute.1 On May 17 and 18, 1986, the Saginaw County Sheriff's Department conducted a sobriety-checkpoint operation in Saginaw County. Nineteen officers were present at the checkpoint. During the approximately one-hour operation, 126 vehicles passed through the checkpoint. All vehicles were stopped and the drivers briefly examined for signs of intoxication. Two drivers were retained for sobriety field tests, only one was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. A third driver, who drove through the checkpoint without stopping, was also arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Thereafter, plaintiffs filed an action for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief. Defendants agreed to delay implementation of the sobriety-checkpoint program pending resolution of this case. Following trial, the trial court issued a sixty-page written opinion finding the sobriety checkpoint violated the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. In reaching this conclusion, the court applied a balancing test derived from Brown v Texas, 443 US 47, 50-51; 99 S Ct 2637; 61 L Ed 2d 357 (1979). The trial court also concluded, on the basis of state law precedent, that the checkpoint violated art 1, § 11 of the Michigan Constitution.

On appeal, this Court affirmed, finding no basis for disturbing the trial court’s findings. Sitz, 170 Mich App 444. In our previous opinion, we agreed with the trial court that, although there is a grave and legitimate state interest in curbing drunk driving, the sobriety-checkpoint program did not significantly further that interest and subjectively [694]*694intruded on individual liberties. Id. at 439. Thus, the use of the checkpoint was found to violate the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Because the Michigan Constitution offers at least the same protection as the federal constitution, the trial court’s finding that the use of the checkpoint violated the Michigan Constitution was also affirmed and the question whether art 1, § 11 offers greater protection than the Fourth Amendment to the federal constitution was not decided. Id. at 445.

In its opinion, the United States Supreme Court held the trial court and this Court properly found the Brown balancing test the appropriate measure to determine whether the checkpoint violated the federal constitution.2 In cases involving seizures less intrusive than traditional arrests, the Brown balancing test calls for a weighing of the gravity of the public concerns served by the seizure, the degree to which the seizure advances the public interests, and the severity of the interference with individual liberty. Brown, supra. In applying this test, the trial court concluded that, although the problems caused by drunk driving are of great public concern, sobriety checkpoints fail to effectively advance the public interest of combating the problems. The evidence at trial indicated checkpoints generally result in a very low arrest rate and therefore have a questionable deterrent value. Moreover, we note the lack of information provided regarding the arrest rate that would likely have resulted from use of the numerous officers present at the checkpoint in more traditional forms of law enforcement aimed at apprehending [695]*695drunk drivers.3 In addition to finding the checkpoints only minimally effective in curbing drunk driving, the trial court found the overall intrusiveness of the roadblocks to the citizens to be great. Although the objective intrusion was deemed slight because of the brief length of the actual stop,4 the subjective intrusiveness was found to be substantial. Because the program calls for temporary, rather than permanent, checkpoints, and the purpose is to search for violators of the criminal law, the court found a high potential for generating fear and surprise in the motorists.5

Thus, given the low degree to which the checkpoint advanced the public interest in curbing drunk driving and the severity of the interference with individual liberty, the trial court found the checkpoint program violative of the Fourth Amendment of the federal constitution. As already noted, this Court previously affirmed the decision of the trial court, finding no basis upon which to set aside the court’s findings and conclusions. If now writing on a clean slate, we would again agree with the findings of the trial court. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that improper consideration and weight was given the Brown factors in such a manner that we erred in concluding the [696]*696use of the checkpoint violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. The federal constitutionality of the checkpoint settled, we must now determine whether the checkpoint program, although found permissible under the federal constitution, is violative of art 1, § 11 of the Michigan Constitution. In other words, whether the Michigan Constitution affords its citizens greater rights than those provided by the federal constitution.

Generally, the Michigan Constitution is construed to ¿ford the same rights as those given by the federal constitution. However, where there is compelling reason to do so, the Michigan Constitution may be construed in a manner that results in greater rights than those afforded by the federal constitution. People v Nash, 418 Mich 196; 341 NW2d 439 (1983); People v Collins, 438 Mich 8; 475 NW2d 684 (1991).

In determining whether compelling reasons exist, several factors may be considered, including any significant textual differences in parallel provisions of the federal and state constitutions, state constitutional and common-law history, and state law preexisting the constitutional provision. Moreover, as our Supreme Court stated in Collins, supra, the beginning of the consideration should be the application of the fundamental principle of constitutional construction to determine the intent of the framers of the constitution and of the people adopting it. Id., at 32.

We do not believe the framers of our constitution or the people adopting it intended that art 1, §11 permit suspicionless seizures of persons under the circumstances presented in this case. Before the United States Supreme Court’s decision in United States v Martinez-Fuerte,

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Sitz v. Department of State Police
485 N.W.2d 135 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
485 N.W.2d 135, 193 Mich. App. 690, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sitz-v-department-of-state-police-michctapp-1992.