Exit-6
Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz authorizes suspicionless DUI checkpoints only within a narrow constitutional space defined by load-bearing operational conditions; deviations from those conditions are actionable under the Fourth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1983
Sitz authorizes suspicionless DUI checkpoints — but only inside four load-bearing operational conditions. Each is independently actionable when violated. Silence, refusal of consent, stop-duration documentation, FOIA for the written plan, and § 1983 damages action for any constitutional violation. No wealth or political connection required. The single § 1983 defense cost regularly exceeds the revenue from hundreds of DUI arrests.
The Enforcement Ratchet
The procedural-cost structure of enforcement: at the initial citation, the individual's procedural mechanisms cost only time while the system's defense costs run thousands. By the post-warrant stage, the ratio inverts. One-directional by design. The vocabulary explains why municipal-court revenue models depend on routine waivers — and why early procedural engagement is the system's structural vulnerability.
The Six Exits Applied: How the Real Exits Actually Operate in Everyday Enforcement
Six exits gamed against ten everyday government encounters — speeding tickets to bench-warrant escalations. Exit 6 (force the system to perform on its own procedural mechanisms) is the sweet spot for seven of ten and the accessible component in the other three. The single most actionable finding is the timing rule: Exit 6's cost ratio inverts as the enforcement ratchet advances. Respond early, respond through the system's machinery, or lose.