Sitz v. Department of State Police
Michigan Supreme Court
506 N.W.2d 209 (1993)
- Written by Deanna Curl, JD
Facts
In May 1986, the Michigan State Police (defendant) conducted sobriety checkpoint operations at night along a county highway. All motorists passing though the checkpoint were briefly stopped without regard to suspicion of criminal activity. Motorists were detained an average of 25 seconds or less as they passed through the checkpoint, and two motorists were arrested for driving under the influence after failing field sobriety tests. Sitz (plaintiff) challenged the constitutionality of the checkpoint operations, and the United States Supreme Court ultimately held that the checkpoints did not violate the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. On remand, the Michigan Court of Appeals held that the checkpoints violated Article 1, Section 11 of the Michigan Constitution, and the state appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Boyle, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
