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SCOTUS rolls back police search authority at traffic stops

Here's some good news for liberty-loving drivers:The US Supreme Court today issued a rare pro-4th Amendment decision to restrict vehicle searches incident to arrest. In a 5-4 ruling, the high court held in Arizona v. Gant that "Police may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle incident to a recent occupant?s arrest only if it is reasonable to believe that the arrestee might access the vehicle at the time of the search or that the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest."The majority lamented that "Countless individuals guilty of nothing more serious than a traffic violation have had their constitutional right to the security of their private effects violated as a result."In a concurring opinion, Justice Scalia wrote that:Law enforcement officers face a risk of being shot when-ever they pull a car over...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on April 21, 2009 (boomark / email).