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D.C. neighborhood case before D.C. Cir., argued May 8

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A neighborhood roadblock case in D.C. is before the D.C. Circuit. See D.C. Police Neighborhood Checkpoints Challenged on Appeal from May 8: Lawyers for the city say the zones, which were used last summer, are designed to prevent and deter criminal activity. Police stop and question drivers, asking for identification and travel plans. Officers are instructed to get phone numbers in order to verify information provided by the driver or passengers. Police say a Neighborhood Safety Zone can be set up for 10 days in response to a spike in crime. Critics of the program argue police do not have authority to stop drivers when there is no suspicion of illegal activity. “The irreparable harm is the deprivation of their fundamental constitutional rights,” Verheyden-Hilliard told today’s panel of Chief Judge David Sentelle and Judges Douglas Ginsburg and Judith Rogers.continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on May 10, 2009 (boomark / email).