State of Tennessee v. Larry Allen Hicks

Summary

The Supreme Court of Tennessee held that the drivers’ license roadblock that led to Larry Allen Hicks’s arrest violated Article I, section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution and the standards established in State v. Downey. The court concluded that the State had not shown a sufficiently compelling interest to justify suspicionless drivers’ license roadblocks and that the particular roadblock failed to comply with statutory and constitutional requirements. The court reversed the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Holdings

1. Tennessee Code Annotated sections 55-50-351(a) and 40-7-103(c) can be construed harmoniously with section 55-50-804. Only state highway patrol officers may initiate a stop solely to check a driver's license, although other officers may request a license after a lawful stop has already been initiated.
2. The three-part test adopted in State v. Downey applies to all constitutional challenges to roadblocks or checkpoints under Article I, section 7: courts examine the gravity of the public concern, the degree to which the checkpoint advances that concern, and the severity of the intrusion on individual liberty and privacy.
3. The State failed to demonstrate a sufficiently compelling interest justifying suspicionless drivers' license roadblocks and failed to show that this checkpoint meaningfully advanced the asserted interest in detecting or deterring unlicensed drivers.
4. The checkpoint was constitutionally unreasonable because it was not established and operated pursuant to adequate prior administrative approval, predetermined operational guidelines, or meaningful supervisory control limiting officers' discretion.
5. A checkpoint designed or operated as a pretext to pursue illegitimate law-enforcement objectives is unreasonable under Article I, section 7, regardless of other indicia of reasonableness.

Questions Presented

1. Whether drivers' license roadblocks are unconstitutional per se under Article I, section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution.
2. Whether the roadblock failed the standards established in State v. Downey for constitutionally reasonable checkpoints.
3. Whether the checkpoint was unlawful because local police officers initiated the stop and requested Hicks's license contrary to Tennessee statutes.
4. Whether evidence obtained as a result of the checkpoint had to be suppressed.

Disposition

reversed