It looks like Michigan has been told that its anti-youth-drinking policies are unconstitutional. As this article notes, this is an especially acute issue around Michigan State University, where students are regularly harassed and detained like criminals for refusing to submit to illegal intrusions into their privacy.

‘A federal judge in Detroit today struck down as unconstitutional a Michigan law that allows police to force pedestrians under the age of 21 to take a Breathalyzer test without first obtaining a search warrant.

In a 32-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge David M. Lawson struck down the state’s Minor in Possession (MIP) law because it “authorizes police officers to perform a search of minors without a warrant or legal excuse for not obtaining one” in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights. The decision does not apply to drivers of a motor vehicle and allows police officers to administer breath tests without warrants in emergencies.

Michigan is among a handful of states nationwide with an MIP law that makes it illegal for young adults and minors who are pedestrians to refuse a Breathalyzer test even though police do not have a search warrant. Those who refuse to take tests in Michigan are guilty of a civil infraction and must pay a $100 fine. In addition, police in some places — including Michigan State University — tell students that if they refuse to submit to a Breathalyzer upon demand that they could spend up to a dozen hours in jail.’

These policies are especially stupid because they punish the relatively harmless act of 19-year-olds walking home drunk after a party. Progress comes slow–it’s not surprising that the federal courts had to get involved to put a stop to these authoritarian “party patrol” police witch-hunts looking to bust people for “Minor in Possession,” the likes of which are unknown even in the college town areas of other nearby Midwestern states like Illinois and Ohio. Read the whole article and see what I’m talking about.