Court Limits DUI Arrests

The Supreme Court let stand a ruling that police cannot pull over a suspected drunk driver based solely on a caller’s tip. The Virginia Supreme Court had ruled that a police officer can follow but not stop a driver’s car until he sees the driver do something suspicious, and the high court upheld that ruling over a strong dissent by Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts wrote that rule would “grant drunk drivers 'one free swerve' before they can be pulled over by the police.” He added that it would be tough to tell the family of someone killed by a drunk driver that the police had a tip but couldn’t stop him, “even for a quick check.” The court’s decision is not a formal ruling, and it does not require other states to follow it.