The Austin American-Statesman reports on the "U.S. Supreme Court decision Wednesday placing new restrictions on police taking involuntary blood samples from suspected drunken drivers," saying the new restriction could end most forced blood draws in Texas.
So the court says it violates the Fourth Amendment for a police officer to forcibly draw your blood because he thinks you might be drunk -- that's good. The bad thing is that anyone could possibly have thought otherwise. In Austin, police have used forced warrantless blood draws. But according to the article, "Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo was among law enforcement leaders who said they will begin requiring warrants anytime a blood sample is drawn from a suspected drunken driver." Unfortunately, the ruling will probably not affect "no-refusal weekends", in which a judge stays on call at night to hand out quick warrants. It would be better if the courts would outlaw forced blood draws entirely.
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