DUI dragnets snag other offenders
Some caught at checkpoint can't afford the high fees
By Scott Hadly
Posted March 20, 2010 at 11 p.m.


It’s just a traffic stop, but police officers screening cars at sobriety checkpoints are in the middle of one of the rawest debates in California, touching on immigration, race, fairness and safety.

While DUI checkpoints are seen as a deterrent to drunken driving, they also have become dragnets for catching unlicensed drivers, often poor, undocumented immigrants, according to mostly anecdotal information from checkpoints and police officials.

And the penalty for the offense — a mandatory 30-day impoundment of the vehicle — falls particularly heavy on people who often cannot afford the $1,200 to $4,000 in towing and impoundment fees. More than half of the cars impounded are never claimed and later sold at lien sales, according to several tow company operators.

“It’s not fair,â€