The evolution of the administrative justice exception to the probable cause and warrant requirements originally articulated in the Fourth Amendment is necessary and ongoing

Question

Border checkpoints serve numerous purposes and their legality has been challenged. Discuss what constitutes a legal border checkpoint, and how might checkpoints be beneficial given the recent terrorist activities.

Answer 1

Although there are different types of checkpoints the focus of this question is to address border checkpoints. In Martinez-Fuerte, the Court considered whether the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) could constitutionally establish permanent checkpoints on major highways away from the Mexican border for brief questioning. In its ruling, the Court upheld such practices ruling that checkpoint searches did not have to be predicated on "any individualized suspicion that the particular vehicle contains illegal aliens." In its justification, the Court evaluated various issues and concluded that: (1) the intrusion occasioned by a brief investigative stop to ascertain residence could not be equated to the search of a private residence; (2) motorists could choose to avoid such checkpoints because of their permanency; (3) individualized suspicion was not possible because of the heavy traffic flow surrounding border areas; (4) officer discretion was not to be considered because supervisors controlled the location and administration of checkpoints; and (5) that a requirement of probable cause would largely eliminate any deterrent effect on smuggling operations.