The New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union has received at least 12 written complaints against the Hanover Police Department's "internal possession" policy and will meet today to discuss taking legal action.
Claire Ebel, the NHCLU's executive director, said she has been "inundated" with complaints from individuals claiming police violated their civil rights but she would not discuss specifics about the letters.
She would only say that the letters were not all from Dartmouth students and added that some were from individuals younger than 18 years old and others were from local residents older than 21.
Following the "internal possession" policy, police can use the presence of alcohol in the blood stream as circumstantial evidence in cases where an underage drinker is charged with "unlawful possession."
Police often determine blood alcohol levels by administering a breathalyzer test, which Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaccone said is normally done after an arrest. He said an individual can refuse to take the test but officers do not always inform the individual of this right.
Ebel said she believes the "internal possession" policy is a violation of civil rights. "This one seems to me a clear case of civil liberties abuse," she said.
Ebel said she was not sure if all the letters specifically referred to the internal possession policy but said, to the best of her knowledge, none of the complainants were charged with "unlawful possession" on the basis of having been found carrying alcoholic beverages.
Although she said she does not think any of the letters claim police have forcibly administered breathalyzer tests on the street, she added that several complainants allege that an officer required them to breathe into the officer's face and used this as a basis for taking them to the police station for a test.
She also said there were "one or two" individuals who were approached by officers, but not charged with internal possession.
Kenneth Deem '98 said he sent the NHCLU a letter but would not elaborate on its contents other than to say "I was arrested Homecoming night for illegal possession of alcohol without having any alcoholic beverage on my person."
But despite the written requests for intervention, the NHCLU has not yet decided whether to challenge the "internal possession" policy or the alleged police actions that accompany it.
Ebel said the NHCLU's decision of whether to pursue the case would be based on considerations other than the case's legal merit.
In addition to weighing the case's magnitude, the NHCLU must also consider whether it is the appropriate agency to take action. She said if it appears that a court would award monetary damages to an individual, the NHCLU might refer the complainants to private attorneys, whose fees could be paid out of any money awarded.
But even if the NHCLU decides to take the case, Ebel said it could take months for the legal process to begin. Unlike other branches of the American Civil Liberties Union, the NHCLU has no legal staff and must instead rely on volunteer lawyers to fight its legal battles, she said.
She referred to the process of finding a lawyer willing to donate his or her time as "painstaking" and compared it to "begging" for assistance.
If the NHCLU decides to proceed with legal action, Ebel said the complaints she has received will give the NHCLU legal standing in court.
Complaints must come from individuals directly affected by the policy being challenged in order for the NHCLU to pursue legal action.
Ebel said that before the media attention began last week, she had received a written complaint from a Hanover taxpayer, but was uncertain whether this alone would give the agency the necessary legal standing to file a case because the author of the letter is not directly affected by the policy.
