Summary
U.—S. Supreme Court decision upholding North Dakota’s implied consent law, which allows the state to suspend the driver’s license of any intoxicated driving suspect who refuses to submit to a breath test. The case involved the 2013 arrest of Michael Beylund on suspicion of drunk driving. Because Beylund was uncooperative with police and failed to provide an adequate breath sample he was arrested and taken to a hospital. After he was advised that, under the state’s implied consent law, his refusal to be tested would result in suspension of his driver’s license, he agreed to be tested. The test showed a blood alcohol level of over three times the legal limit. On appeal, Beylund argued that the state’s implied consent law subjected him to an unconstitutional search. After two state courts rejected his claim, the U.—S. Supreme Court agreed to consider it. CJLF joined the case to argue that the challenged law is a reasonable tool used in all 50 states to keep intoxicated drivers off the road, and that the privilege to drive is conditioned upon the licensee’s agreement to consent to testing to protect the public from drunk drivers. The Supreme Court agreed.
