There are no roadblocks on Michigan roads, so every stop needs a reason of its own.

The enforcement campaign running from August 14 through Labor Day puts extra patrols across Metro Detroit, and every year around now people ask where the checkpoints will be set up. There won't be any. Michigan is one of the states where sobriety checkpoints are unconstitutional, and that's not a piece of trivia, because it means every OWI arrest between now and September 7 begins with an officer who needed a specific reason to stop one specific car.

Does Michigan run sobriety checkpoints?

No, and it hasn't for more than thirty years. In Sitz v. Department of State Police, decided in 1993, the Michigan Supreme Court held that stopping drivers without any suspicion violates Article 1, Section 11 of the Michigan Constitution. That's the same case that reached the United States Supreme Court in 1990, where checkpoints survived a federal Fourth Amendment challenge, and the point of the Michigan decision on remand was that our state constitution protects more than the federal floor does. The result has held ever since, in every county and on every holiday.

Then what is the Labor Day enforcement?

It's saturation patrol, which means more marked cars in more places during the late night and early morning hours rather than a fixed stopping point. Officers aren't stopping everyone who passes; they're working the roads looking for a reason to stop someone, and the campaign gives them the staffing to do it in volume. Practically, that raises the odds of a stop for something small and lowers the odds that the small thing gets overlooked.

The length of the drive doesn't change any of that either. Ten minutes between a friend's house and your own driveway still passes the same patrol on the same road at the same hour, so the short trip people treat as the safe one carries the same exposure as the long one. Around Dearborn and Downriver, most trips are short trips.

Why does the reason for the stop matter so much?

A traffic stop is a seizure, so it has to rest on reasonable suspicion that a violation occurred, and if that foundation doesn't hold then what the officer learned afterward is open to challenge. That's why a defense reads the report and the video before it reads the breath result, since the sequence of the night is often more useful than the number at the end of it. It also means the answer to "why did he pull me over" is a legal question with consequences, not just a thing you wonder about afterward.

What are officers actually watching for?

The common ones are drifting within a lane, driving noticeably under the limit, a delayed start at a green light, a wide turn, and the equipment problems that stand out at night, like a dead taillight or an unlit plate. None of those require an officer to suspect drinking first, which is exactly why they're the stops that produce OWI arrests during a campaign week. When the driving itself becomes the accusation rather than the reason for a stop, you're into different territory, and our comparison of reckless and careless driving explains where that line sits.

What are you required to do at the window?

Hand over your license, registration, and proof of insurance. You aren't required to answer questions about where you've been or what you've had, and declining politely is not a crime and not evidence of one. The roadside tests, including the handheld breath unit, are voluntary for most drivers, while the chemical test after an arrest is a different matter with its own consequences, which we cover in the 14 day implied consent deadline and in our piece on refusing field sobriety tests.

What if you get arrested anyway?

Then the case starts where the stop started, and the first thing worth knowing is what the officer wrote down as the reason. Charges brought during a campaign week look the same on paper as any other OWI, and they carry the same penalties, which our breakdown of first offense OWI penalties lays out in full. If you were stopped this weekend, our criminal defense practice can tell you quickly whether the stop is worth attacking, and the consultation costs nothing.

Quick answers

Are sobriety checkpoints legal in Michigan?

No. The Michigan Supreme Court held in 1993 that suspicionless sobriety checkpoints violate the Michigan Constitution, even though the United States Supreme Court had upheld them under the federal Fourth Amendment. Michigan uses extra patrols instead.

Can police pull me over just because it's a holiday weekend?

No. Every stop needs its own reasonable suspicion of a violation, holiday or not. It can be something small, like a burned out light or an unsignaled lane change, but there has to be something specific.

Do I have to answer questions about what I've had to drink?

No. You have to provide your license, registration, and proof of insurance. You aren't required to say where you were or what you drank, and politely declining to answer isn't a crime.

Related reading

• Michigan Breath Test Refusal: The 14 Day Rule
• Refusing Field Sobriety Tests in Michigan
• Michigan OWI Penalties: First Offense