From Reason Magazine.
“You can refuse this swab, you can refuse a breathalyzer, you can refuse to participate in a field sobriety test, you can refuse to answer questions,” says criminal defense attorney Mark Gallagher. “Now, law enforcement doesn’t like this advice, but we do still have a constitution.”
They can punish you for refusing by taking away your driver’s license. So do you have a right to travel or not?
It could not be stated more directly or conclusively that citizens of the states have a common law right to travel, without approval or restriction (license), and that this right is protected under the U.S Constitution.
CASE #3: “The right to travel is a part of the liberty of which the citizen cannot be deprived without due process of law under the Fifth Amendment.” Kent v. Dulles, 357 US 116, 125.
CASE #4: “The right to travel is a well-established common right that does not owe its existence to the federal government. It is recognized by the courts as a natural right.” Schactman v. Dulles 96 App DC 287, 225 F2d 938, at 941.
As hard as it is for those of us in law enforcement to believe, there is no room for speculation in these court decisions. American citizens do indeed have the inalienable right to use the roadways unrestricted in any manner as long as they are not damaging or violating property or rights of others. Government — in requiring the people to obtain drivers licenses, and accepting vehicle inspections and DUI/DWI roadblocks without question — is restricting, and therefore violating, the people’s common law right to travel.
You will excuse that the following video is from Prison Planet. The information is, to the best of my knowledge, correct. That doesn’t mean that using this information will keep you out of trouble. You will need to settle this in court. Probably.
The Voluntaryist Rebel explains the motivation. The “Free State Project”. You can read more at FreeStateProject.org.
There is more. You can file papers claiming your right to travel. Which is from Pro Se Of Michigan. It is probably less trouble to follow custom. Which is exactly why all this continues. Me? I follow custom. Mostly.
Comments
5 responses to “You Can Refuse”
I told my buddy about something I saw once, don’t refuse the tests, refuse to answer the questions.
Will you take this breathalyzer?
I can’t answer that question without a lawyer.
The cop was furious.
He didn’t get a lawyer when he went to court and lost, not sure what would have happened if he had a lawyer.
“So do you have a right to travel or not?”
At the moment, that’s a bit of a gray area. The answer is “Yes, but…”.
Drivers’ licenses are a “shall issue” license. The government can’t refuse to issue one unless it has a rational reason. DUI tests get into probable cause and the 5th Amendment, not the right to travel.
Now, the big “Yes, but…” is the TSA. The TSA supposedly has the power to prevent anyone from traveling by any mode of transport, or carrying any form of cargo if they don’t like the cut of your jib.
I think eventually there will be a court case over that, but I wouldn’t want to be intimately involved in the first one.
I quit flying around 1998. I got wanded every time. Every single damn time. I decided it was not random. I was on a list. Or I looked scary. Whatever.
I used to have that experience, too. It got to where I just scheduled time for the full U.S. Customs search and interrogation whenever I traveled out of the country.
Oddly, the TSA has searched me far less than the old security (except that they’re scanning me every time, of course, which is as good as a search). My experience may be skewed, however–my marriage coincided with the TSA’s beginning. Maybe I look domesticated.
I just say to authority Since it is a crime to make a false statememt to law enforcement officer I will say nothing it is my 5 th amendment right against self incrimination. And when I say it like that the policeman usually nods in agreement. And pleaseeeee enought dope talk or call this site doper values instead of classical values!