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At holiday roadside sobriety checkpoints, drivers check in, but they don’t always check out. Even ones who are sober.
On the night before this past Thanksgiving, Kenny Howe, father of three, was returning home to Worcester.

On the night before this past Thanksgiving, Kenny Howe, father of three, was returning home to Worcester. He was a passenger in a truck along with two of his buddies, chilling out while driving down the Salem Turnpike in North Andover. Howe had just lit up a joint, and he and his friends were returning home after having purchased Thanksgiving Day supplies at a nearby Stop & Stop. The truck slowed down as they came upon what they thought was a construction worksite.

It was actually a sobriety checkpoint. Howe never made it home for Thanksgiving, because he died that night while in police custody.

Now imagine it’s your vehicle. It’s New Year’s Eve, about 2 am, and you’re driving back home with friends after a party. Everybody’s having a good time, and the jokes abound. You’ve all had a few drinks, but, since you’re driving, every other one of yours was a tonic water. So you know you’re good to go. Or are you?

Because up ahead is a sign cautioning:

SOBRIETY CHECKPOINT AHEAD

PLEASE SLOW DOWN

LEFT LANE ENDS

This is the first time you ever actually went though a checkpoint. In the back of your mind, you wonder if these things are even legal under the Fourth Amendment. And it’s likely you’re not the only one wondering, given the line of cars waiting to get through.

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