This was originally published on June 3. Joe Kelly reported:
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday said it is unconstitutional to count revocation of driving privileges for refusing a warrantless blood draw as a criminal offense contributing to increased penalties for multiple drunken driving convictions, which the state’s legal scheme for OWI offenses currently allows.
In a 4-3 majority opinion penned by Justice Rebecca Dallet, the high court said the part of Wisconsin’s graduated-penalty scheme for OWI offenses that allows for previous revocations over refusing a blood test to be counted as criminal offenses in determining the penalty for multiple-OWI crimes is unconstitutional “because it threatens with criminal penalties those who exercise their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches,” agreeing with the defendant in the underlying case.
Read more at Courthouse News.
h/t, Joe Cadillic