More disturbing signs of Amerika the Police State

[generalmeow]

Don't you have a right to not incriminate yourself? And isn't your blood part of yourself? I do not give my blood permission to incriminate me. Laying there and letting you take my blood is incriminating me. Allowing you to tie me down is making me incriminate myself. If the blood is on the ground, it's no longer part of me. But taking it from me is technically different.

My breath is not part of me, but making me blow through something is making me do something to incriminate myself.

Why can't you plead the 5th if you get pulled over while drunk driving? Serious question. How does this jive with tying someone down and taking their blood forcefully?

If you couldn't get a blood or breath sample, it might be hard to convict. But the 5th amendment is pretty black and white and we shouldn't carve out exceptions to any of our rights. I don't like the idea of cops just saying "he smelled like alcohol and was swerving" as enough evidence to get a conviction. On the other hand, it seems like a violation of a persons rights to forcefully get the evidence.

ETA - if suspected of drunk driving, they should just put you in a room and the room measures the alcohol coming off your breath, without you doing anything. Doesn't seem to violate any rights. The cops can say "hold your breath if you want to, but you're going to be in here for 15 minutes".