Are DUI roadblocks and checkpoints legal in Pennsylvania?

The short answer is yes.

DUI roadblocks and checkpoints are essentially the same thing, and for the purposes of this article the words are used to mean the same thing. Recently there has been much debate about the constitutionality and the efficiency of DUI roadblocks. In Pennsylvania, many contend that they are used as publicity stunts and public awareness campaigns, but are statistically ineffective at removing impaired drivers from the roads.

The obvious argument against DUI roadblocks is that they are intrusive and subject citizens to police scrutiny despite a lack of probable cause. It boils down to a basic constitutional argument. This argument, at least for now, has fallen on deaf ears in Pennsylvania. The current law says that roadblocks are legal in PA as long as they are done within the parameters of what the courts deem to be okay.

A legal DUI roadblock in Pennsylvania is a non-moving or stationary outpost. The definition of a legal roadblock can be found in the case of Com. v. Beaman (also discussed here), which was decided in 2005:

...the terms "DUI roadblock" and "sobriety checkpoint" are used interchangeably. Both terms indicate a well-marked, stationary roadblock conducted by the police for several hours at a time. The officers on the scene make brief, suspicionless stops to check for driver intoxication, using a predetermined objective standard in determining which cars to stop. Such roadblocks are advertised in advance and are situated at roadway locations where drunk driving is known to have occurred in the past. See generally Commonwealth v. Tarbert, 517 Pa. 277, 289-90, 535 A.2d 1035, 1041 (Pa.1987) (describing sobriety checkpoints in more detail).

According to another case, Pennsylvania v. Steven Dennis, checkpoints allow police to:

to remove intoxicated drivers from our roadways before they may inflict bodily injury to others or themselves, or, cause property damage. Giving an intoxicated driver the opportunity to avoid the checkpoint would be contrary to principles of common sense, and, contrary to the objectives of the police in establishing the DUI checkpoint.

Although Pennsylvania DUI roadblocks do involve searches and seizures which are governed by the US Constitution, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court indicates in the quote above that it has the justification needed to conduct the checkpoints despite the Constitutional intrerests against them, which is a justifiable public interest against the death and injuries potentially caused by impaired drivers.

The "hoops" that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania must jump through to justify a PA DUI roadblock are addressed in another article.