Several local attorneys will appear in Durham County District Court today to question the constitutionality of actions taken by Alcohol Law Enforcement agents in late August.
In a several-day operation, ALE agents cited 194 people-mostly Duke students-with alcohol-related violations near East Campus.
According to legal paperwork obtained by The Herald-Sun, issues of unreasonable search and seizure will be at stake in the case. Attorneys Robert Ekstrand, Ed Falcone, Tom Loflin, Bill Thomas and Woody Vann noted in the paperwork that the state and federal rights of suspects were violated.
The paperwork states that ALE agents may have unconstitutionality entered a Markham Ave. house without a warrant. They then allegedly questioned suspects without allowing them to leave or informing them of their legal rights.
The lawyers will cite more than 60 pages of documentation and court decisions stretching from the N.C. Court of Appeals to the U.S Supreme Court.
By challenging the constitutionality of the ALE operation, lawyers are aiming to get their clients completely exonerated.
ALE officers, in conjunction with the Durham Police Department, targeted bars, restaurants and large house parties Aug. 25 and 27. Agents cited 159 people with possession of alcohol by a person under the age of 21, 22 people for use of fictitious identification and 13 people for aiding and abetting underage persons and possession of alcohol.
The paperwork alleges that an ALE agent was inside a Markham Ave. house for 90 minutes before making his identity known. It also says the agent could have used a cell phone to request a warrant but did not, The Herald-Sun reported.
Agents and Durham police officers surrounded the house, sealed off all possible exits and gave suspects only three options-to admit guilt, take a portable breath test or go to jail-the documents say.
Students have reported to The Chronicle that an ALE agent wore a pink polo shirt that weekend and another sported a Miller Lite t-shirt during an enforcement operation several weeks later.
Students have also reported that agents kept the partygoers detained for up to three hours in the Markham Ave. house and on the lawn. Students who said they had not been drinking noted that they were not allowed to leave or prove their innocence.
The increased ALE presence was a result of years of complaints from residents in neighborhoods off East Campus, ALE officials said. More than 100 Duke students showed up for court Oct. 11 to appear before a judge as a result of their citations.
Many Duke administrators have publicly commented on the operation and the state of off-campus partying.
"I have great regret for what the neighbors of these party houses have had to experience," President Richard Brodhead said recently on National Public Radio. "They have been the victims of boorish behavior. I think it's widely recognized that this is not the typical Duke student."
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