This is a nit correction.
Unless the courts have changed the law, again, at a checkpoint, vehicles must be stopped per the approved check point plan. This could mean every vehicle, every other vehicle, every third vehicle, etc. Nit difference.
The whole point of the approve plan is about avoiding the D Word or any hint there of, as you say.
Also, anyone AVOIDING the checkpoint can be pulled over.
To be fair, a vehicle check point is the about the closest comparison to boat inspections but the boat inspection is different. A more direct comparison is that of an officer randomly pulling over a car for a safety inspection. That does not occur since it would be illegal.
Another more basic difference is that a boat can be someone's house yet it can be searched without a warrant. There is some case law regarding RVs and searches but the reality is that an officer really should get a warrant to search an RV or a car, otherwise they risk getting any found evidence tossed out of court.
However, law enforcement could board and search my boat and there is nothing I can legally do to prevent said search. If they find contraband it almost certainly will be admissible in court since this has been upheld in many but not all cases. This sorta makes sense if I am arriving from overseas but I wonder if there is case law on such searches happening on a landlocked lake.
There is a great four part article about Fourth Amendment rights and boating on this link,
Coast Guard Boardings and Your Fourth Amendment Rights, Part 1 | Sailfeed.
I do wonder about the legality of fining a boat owner because they had not locked off a holding tank valve which was discovered in a boating safety inspection. The unlocked value is not a safety issue but is an offense that was found as part of a safety inspection aka warrant less search... I wonder if someone has fought this in court?
They better have deep pockets and/or get the ACLU to defend them.
Later,
Dan
