ST. TAMMANY, La. -- This Memorial Day weekend, drivers arrested on suspicion of DWI in Jefferson and St. Tammany Parishes won't have the option when it comes to alcohol analysis testing.
Those who refuse a breath test will be forced to submit to a blood screening.
"Once the driver refuses, we are prepared to have a search warrant issued, and a court order, ordering the driver to submit to a blood test, and we will have registered nurses at the lockup who are there to draw the blood," said Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick.
Connick said from early Friday evening until just before midnight Monday, magistrates and nurses will be on duty, nonstop.
It's called the "No Refusal Initiative," a program Jefferson and St. Tammany authorities are conducting in coordination with Louisiana State Police.
"It has been implemented in Texas and other parts of the state of Louisiana, but the first time in Jefferson Parish," Connick said.
There are critics, like Marjorie Esman, who heads up Louisiana's ACLU chapter.
"I've never heard of this before,” she said. “I think it's a very serious infringement of people's privacy rights, in addition to due process rights."
Esman said the situation raises questions about medical privacy, as authorities will have access to a driver's blood and DNA.
She also believes the program will undermine the search warrant process.
"If you have magistrates and judges lined up to issue warrants, how much serious thought is going to go behind each one? It sounds like almost a pretext, and people have the right to know, that when they get behind the wheel of the car, they're entitled to the safeguards of due process," Esman said.
Typically in Louisiana, drivers are allowed the option to refuse a breath test. Doing so results in automatic suspension of driver's license, but local DWI defense attorneys say refusal gives drivers more options in court.
Connick said the change falls within the guidelines of Louisiana’s implied consent law.
“Driving is a privilege and not a right,” he said. “When you receive a driver's license from the state of Louisiana, it's deemed that you have given your consent to a chemical test of your blood, your breath, or your urine if you're stopped for DWI. So, there's no violation of anyone's rights here. It's been determined that it's not a violation."
Connick said authorities could implement it again for big holiday weekends in the future.
