Supreme court shreds 4th amendment
Apr 23, 2008 politics
In yet another example of the federal government trampling on state law, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, April 23d that police may use evidence obtained during a search following an illegal arrest (by state law).
City detectives seized crack cocaine from David Lee Moore in Portsmouth, Virginia, in a search of his vehicle following an arrest for driving with a suspended license – which turns out to be an offense for which only a court summons can be issued according to state law. Although the arrest was unlawful, the Supreme Court ruled to allow the evidence to be used in a conviction.
The fourth amendment reads, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
A review of the definition of “probable cause” in the Oxford Companion to American Law reveals that probable cause requires that there be “information sufficient to warrant a prudent person’s belief that the wanted individual had committed a crime (for an arrest warrant) or that evidence of a crime or contraband would be found in a search (for a search warrant).” Concerning arrest and search, in the case of the Virginia man, it is impossible to make a connection between any other crime and driving with a suspended license, and therefore is also impossible to suspect that contraband might be found during a search.
Much like the ambiguity in the “thought crimes bill” (H.R. 1955), police officers can now arrest you at will – as long as they suspect that you have committed some crime, however substantiated that belief is – in order to conduct a search following arrest.
The slippery slope of eroding personal liberty and constitutional protection no longer seems like a fallacy. Fourth amendment, you’ll sure be missed.
Tags: constitution, David Lee Moore, fourth amendment, supreme court, virginia
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