Search Warrants In Arizona DUI Cases: They will forcibly take your blood

Arizona has long been ahead of other states in its willingness to allow officers to extract blood against an arrestee's will if the person refuses to submit to a breath or blood test when the officer asks.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Organization (NHTSA), which publishes extensively on the subject of DUI, put out a study of search warrants in DUI cases. Arizona was one of the main states studied.

The article is an interesting read and worthwhile to anybody who tries to understand the answer to the question of "it's only a misdemeanor DUI, how can they get a warrant and tie me down and take my blood?"

DUI search warrants are speading throughout the country. Arizona, as usual, is on the forefront of police tactics that seem invasive and over the top (see officer blood draws for another example). However, in time, what Arizona does the rest of the nation, at least in DUI law, seems to eventually accept.