50
Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting
markedly different from roving patrols, where the unbridled discretion of officers in the field could result in unlimited interference with motorists' use of the highways. Cf. United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U. S. 873 (1975). And although the decision in Martinez-Fuerte did not turn on the checkpoints' effectiveness, the record in one of the consolidated cases demonstrated that illegal aliens were found in 0.12 percent of the stopped vehicles. See 428 U. S., at 554. In Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U. S. 444 (1990), we upheld the State's use of a highway sobriety checkpoint after applying the framework set out in Martinez-Fuerte, supra, and Brown v. Texas, supra. There, we recognized the gravity of the State's interest in curbing drunken driving and found the objective intrusion of the approximately 25-second seizure to be "slight." 496 U. S., at 451. Turning to the subjective intrusion, we noted that the checkpoint was selected pursuant to guidelines and was operated by uniformed officers. See id., at 453. Finally, we concluded that the program effectively furthered the State's interest because the checkpoint resulted in the arrest of two drunk drivers, or 1.6 percent of the 126 drivers stopped. See id., at 455-456.
This case follows naturally from Martinez-Fuerte and Sitz. Petitioners acknowledge that the "primary purpose" of these roadblocks is to interdict illegal drugs, but this fact should not be controlling. Even accepting the Court's conclusion that the checkpoints at issue in Martinez-Fuerte and Sitz were not primarily related to criminal law enforcement,2 the
2 This gloss, see ante, at 38-40, 41-43, is not at all obvious. The respondents in Martinez-Fuerte were criminally prosecuted for illegally transporting aliens, and the Court expressly noted that "[i]nterdicting the flow of illegal entrants from Mexico poses formidable law enforcement problems." 428 U. S., at 552. And the Sitz Court recognized that if an "officer's observations suggest that the driver was intoxicated, an arrest would be made." 496 U. S., at 447. But however persuasive the distinction, the Court's opinion does not impugn the continuing validity of Martinez-Fuerte and Sitz. See ante, at 47.
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