Chicago DUI lawyer comments on legislation to let the government jab a needle in you

Finally, some sense! This Chicago DUI lawyer has posted here and here about forced blood draws in DUI cases. Now the Chicago Tribune’s Editorial board weighs in.

March 11, Chicago, 2010

Over the past couple of years, Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti has staged what he calls "no refusal" weekends.

Drivers suspected of being intoxicated are arrested and told they must provide a breath or blood sample. A judge is on hand to issue a search warrant. If the driver refuses, he faces the threat of being shipped to the hospital to have his blood taken involuntarily.

In the end, few have refused. No one has been strapped down and forced to give blood. One suspect who refused a test was charged with contempt of court, but a judge found him not guilty.

Barsanti complains that if a suspect can refuse a search warrant to submit for a blood sample without facing consequences, then the law has "no teeth."

Now Rep. Keith Farnham, D-Elgin, is trying to insert some fangs. He has introduced a bill that authorizes police to use "all necessary and reasonable force" to execute a search warrant, whether for driving under the influence of alcohol or anything else. That means suspects could be restrained at a hospital so a nurse or doctor could draw blood or a hair sample.

Really? Does Rep. Farnham think this is an American piece of legislation? Or maybe he thinks “all necessary and reasonable force” doesn't include strapping someone down and jabbing a needle into them. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that he talked to anyone about the Constitutionality of this legislation.