Cite as: 531 U. S. 32 (2000)
Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting
question whether a law enforcement purpose could support a roadblock seizure is not presented in this case. The District Court found that another "purpose of the checkpoints is to check driver's licenses and vehicle registrations," App. to Pet. for Cert. 44a, and the written directives state that the police officers are to "[l]ook for signs of impairment," id., at 53a. The use of roadblocks to look for signs of impairment was validated by Sitz, and the use of roadblocks to check for driver's licenses and vehicle registrations was expressly recognized in Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U. S. 648, 663 (1979).3 That the roadblocks serve these legitimate state interests cannot be seriously disputed, as the 49 people arrested for offenses unrelated to drugs can attest. Edmond v. Goldsmith, 183 F. 3d 659, 661 (CA7 1999). And it would be speculative to conclude—given the District Court's findings, the written directives, and the actual arrests—that petitioners would not have operated these roadblocks but for the State's interest in interdicting drugs.
Because of the valid reasons for conducting these roadblock seizures, it is constitutionally irrelevant that petitioners also hoped to interdict drugs. In Whren v. United States, 517 U. S. 806 (1996), we held that an officer's subjective intent would not invalidate an otherwise objectively justifiable stop of an automobile. The reasonableness of an officer's discretionary decision to stop an automobile, at issue in Whren, turns on whether there is probable cause to believe that a traffic violation has occurred. The reasonableness of highway checkpoints, at issue here, turns on whether they effectively serve a significant state interest with minimal intrusion on motorists. The stop in Whren was objectively reasonable because the police officers had witnessed traffic violations; so too the roadblocks here are objectively
3 Several Courts of Appeals have upheld roadblocks that check for driver's licenses and vehicle registrations. See, e. g., United States v. Galindo-Gonzales, 142 F. 3d 1217 (CA10 1998); United States v. McFayden, 865 F. 2d 1306 (CADC 1989).
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