My 17 year old son and I was talking last night and he said that everyone entering the high school for the homecoming dance was required to take a Breathalyer test. Well I laughed and said, "we'll get you high school kids straightened out yet." Obviously I thought he was kidding. Soon into our conversation I realized he was telling the truth, they really did have to take a breath test to enter the highschool dance.
Now I'm no lawyer or law expert by any means but this sounds like a civil rights violation to me. What next, urine sample for drugs? Blood Test for the Aids virus or hepititis
How is this different from requiring travelers to pass through metal detectors (full body scans, etc) at airports? They have probable cause because we are traveling? Of course not, and by any measure people at an airport are far less likely to be armed then teenagers at a dance are to be drunk. There is no Constitutional prohibition against search, only against unreasonable search. Asking high schoolers to blow doesn't strike me as unreasonable, nor does checking for guns before boarding an airplane.
Here's what the 4th Amendment says:
“ The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Notice the requirements for "describing the place....persons or things...." To publicly announce, in advance, that everyone one ("the persons") entering the dance ("the place") will be tested for alcohol ("the things") seems to comply with both the letter and intent of this amendment. No one is forcing either the high schoolers or travelers to be tested/screened. It is a condition for entry, but entry is completely voluntary.