Major Surpreme Court Ruling on Search and Seizure

[Rick]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042102125.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[Pal334]

Sure does reaffirm my faith in the Supreme court :)

[Alpine_Sapper]

Someone needs to give Alito a good swift kick in the ...

[Badawg]

Awesome!!! It's about freaking time we start to get our rights back! I particularly like how the most conservative and the most liberal justices worked together on this. Some times the middle road isn't the true path.

Now let's see what happens with the student strip searches...

[Rick]

Careful, now. I don't mind the strip searches. I just have a hard time finding lady cops.:innocent:

[Ken]

My colleagues and I have been holding our breaths waiting for this opinion. It's very well thought out and a step forward after many steps backward. Unfortunately, it did not go far enough. The Court only decides the precise issue at hand and rarely goes beyond the facts of the case before it. (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-542.pdf).

Unfortunately, I suspect that we can expect a number of attempts by police to try to circumvent this opinion. My guess is that "inventory searches" will be the first strategy employed.

Car is a "hazard" if it remains where it was stopped. Therefore, it must be towed. If towed, the police are "responsible" for the vehicle and its contents. Therefore, the "contents" must be inventoried in the impound area. Watch. It will happen.

Next, expect that many vehicle stops will result in the officer "smelling marijuana" in the vehicle or something of that sort.

[tennecedar]

Is this gonna make searches prior to the decision subject to new evidentiary hearings?
Any chance that someone pulled over and arrested for no DL is gonna walk on the drugs found in the vehicle after arrest? I'm talking old cases that the offender is still incarcerated for. If it's anything like when the crack law guidelines were redone, there will be hundreds or thousands released immediately. Courts jammed full of appeals.

[Ken]

Is this gonna make searches prior to the decision subject to new evidentiary hearings?
Any chance that someone pulled over and arrested for no DL is gonna walk on the drugs found in the vehicle after arrest? I'm talking old cases that the offender is still incarcerated for. If it's anything like when the crack law guidelines were redone, there will be hundreds or thousands released immediately. Courts jammed full of appeals.

Generally speaking, and with very rare exceptions, opinions of the court are prospective and not retrospective. The principle of "final judgment" generally applies to cases that are over and beyond the applicable appeal period. It is very rare for a "motion for new trial" to be granted under such circumstances.

[tennecedar]

Man I hope not. If it becomes retroactive I'll be testifying for the next couple of years. When I worked with the dept. it was generally accepted that after arrest, the vehicle was searched and charges were added for drugs, weapons, paraphanalia, etc. found. I've also seen the bad side of that too. Person is pulled over for bad tail lamp or something trivial and detained until a canine unit can sniff the car. Sometimes half an hour. If the dog "hit" on the car, the person was removed from the vehicle and the car was searched. I hated when some would do that but I had no say so in it.