Michigan Teen Challenging Warrantless Breathalyzer Law

The 17-year-old was a passenger in a car with other high school seniors and refused to take a Breathalyzer test

A Michigan teen has filed a federal lawsuit against a police officer who fined her for refusing to submit to a Breathalyzer test, NBC News reported. 

Casey Guthrie, 17, who was a passenger in a car with other seniors, was fined $100 last month. She said she refused to take the test because the detective didn’t have a warrant. 

The honor student also is challenging the constitutionality of a Michigan law that makes it an infraction for anyone under the age of 21 to refuse a police officer’s request to take a Breathalyzer test — and doesn’t require the officer to produce a warrant. 

Guthrie's lawyer told NBC News the law violates her Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable searches. Township Supervisor Brian Loftus, and the officer, Detective Kenneth Pelland of Gross Isle Township, didn’t immediately respond to the lawsuit.

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