Bloodsuckers in Blue

Do you cling to the cherished belief that the Constitution protects the integrity of your person, and shields you from being forced to incriminate yourself? You silly prole — the state has jurisdiction over the very blood in your veins, and can force you to undergo a blood test administered any time a uniformed tax feeder demands it of you.

This may involve being strapped to a “phlebotomy chair” in the local police station and being jabbed by a fumble-fingered donut-burner who is not a competent health care professional under Hippocratic discipline.

The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled thatpolice can force a blood-alcohol test if suspected drunken drivers refuse to take one,” reports Spokane NBC affiliate KHQ.

But this doesn’t mean that drivers are “forced” to submit to a blood draw, any more than we’re “forced” to pay income tax:  “Under state law, drunken-driving suspects are allowed to refuse a voluntary blood-alcohol test. In exchange, they have to give up their license for at least a year.” In principle, of course, this means that receiving a driver’s license is “implied consent” to waive one’s rights, as supposedly protected by the Constitution.

Nampa, Idaho, a city of about 80,000, recently joined the list of communities afflicted with syringe-wielding “phleboto-cops.” The Idaho Statesman reports that, thanks to a grant from the National Highway Transportation Safety Board (which is a major conduit for federal subsidies to supposedly local police forces), ten officers have become federally certified vampires, empowered to bury a syringe in the arm of anyone who refuses a Breathalyzer test. So far, forty people have had their blood siphoned in this fashion.

It’s important to remember that passing a Breathalyzer exam or a field sobriety test is not sufficient proof of sobriety if the arresting officer just knows his victim is intoxicated. Last March, Jamie Lockard, a 53-year-old resident of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, passed a Breathalyzer test but was dragged off to the hospital by Officer Brian Miller. Lockard was put through an involuntary blood draw and a forced catheterization to collect a urine sample; both confirmed that his blood alcohol was within the legal limit.

Undaunted, the heroic Officer Miller charged Lockard with “obstructing justice” for the supposed crime of maintaining his innocence and seeking to prevent the needless violation of his person through force.

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10:24 pm on September 10, 2009