Issues

S.D.W.Va.: Car in garage could be searched under SW even though it wasn't homeowner's

FourthAmendment.com - News - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36

Defendant was visiting a house that was searched under a warrant. His car was in the garage and searched too. It was reasonable for the police to believe that the car in the garage was subject to search with the premises. United States v. Powell, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43866 (S.D. W.Va. March 29, 2012):

The scope of a warrant to search an entire property or premises "includes automobiles on the property or premises that are owned by or are under the dominion and control of the premises owner or which reasonably appear to be so controlled." United States v. Patterson, 278 F.3d 315, 318 (4th Cir. 2002). Defendant argues that the searched vehicle at 228 North Queens Court could not have reasonably appeared to be owned or controlled by the owner of the searched property, James Meeks, because the searching officers were aware that the vehicle was registered to someone other than Meeks.

The Court disagrees. Although the vehicle was not registered to Meeks, it could still reasonably appear to be controlled by him, because it was within his attached garage. Courts have long considered attached garages to be part of the home. See Taylor v. United States, 286 U.S. 1, 6 (1932) (warrantless search of garage violated Fourth Amendment); ....

Police were called to an on-the-street argument and saw defendant and a woman. Defendant was questioned by the police, and his speech was slurred and he refused to remove his hands from his pockets. He was arrested for public intoxication and convicted. The police did not need reasonable suspicion to talk to him. Woodson v. State, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 140 (March 29, 2012).*

PolitiFact Florida: "Are lawmakers protected by First Amendment against drug testing?"

FourthAmendment.com - News - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36

PolitiFact Florida: Are lawmakers protected by First Amendment against drug testing? by Katie Sanders:

Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen torched Florida lawmakers for passing a drug-testing bill for state workers that excluded one class of government employees: the elected officials who passed the law.

Hiaasen took particular issue with the proposal's House sponsor Rep. Jimmie Smith, a Republican from Lecanto, and his explanation why the law excludes Gov. Rick Scott and legislators.

"It was found to be unconstitutional to drug test elected officials because it prevents us, as citizens, from having that First Amendment right," Smith said.

Smith's defense is novel — and wrong, it turns out.

Not just wrong: Off the wall. A de jure "speech and debate" defense to drug testing? Come on: That doesn't even pass the laugh test.

Volokh: "Magistrate Judge Rejects Mosaic Theory of Fourth Amendment For Cell-Site Information"

FourthAmendment.com - News - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36

Volokh Conspiracy: Magistrate Judge Rejects Mosaic Theory of Fourth Amendment For Cell-Site Information by Orin Kerr:

I have posted the short opinion (dated March 23) from Magistrate Judge Collings of the District of Massachusetts here. It largely adopts the reasoning of United States v. Graham from the District of Maryland, which I blogged about here. In my view, Judge Collings was correct to issue the order without probable cause for a second reason: The Fourth Amendment questions are not yet ripe for review, as I argue in this amicus brief I filed recently in the Fifth Circuit.

Lawyers find flaws in Michigan militia case

A day after seven members of a Michigan-based Christian militia were acquitted after some spent two years in jail on charges of trying to overthrow the government, people who watched their trial said the federal case against them was flawed.

Jack Kay, a professor of communication at Eastern Michigan University ...

Metro gag order at odds with law

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's policy of forbidding employees from speaking to the media is at odds with a law designed to reduce impropriety at transit agencies by protecting insiders who bring concerns to light, an expert said.

The National Transit System Security Act of 2007, authored by Rep. ...

HuffPo: "Illinois Traffic Stop Of Star Trek Fans Raises Concerns About Drug Searches, Police Dogs, Bad Cops"

FourthAmendment.com - News - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36

HuffPo: Illinois Traffic Stop Of Star Trek Fans Raises Concerns About Drug Searches, Police Dogs, Bad Cops by Radley Balko:

Last December, filmmaker Terrance Huff and his friend Jon Seaton were returning to Ohio after attending a "Star Trek" convention in St. Louis. As they passed through a small town in Illinois, a police officer, Michael Reichert, pulled Huff's red PT Cruiser over to the side of the road, allegedly for an unsafe lane change. Over the next hour, Reichert interrogated the two men, employing a variety of police tactics civil rights attorneys say were aimed at tricking them into giving up their Fourth Amendment rights. Reichert conducted a sweep of Huff's car with a K-9 dog, then searched Huff's car by hand. Ultimately, he sent Huff and Seaton on their way with a warning.

Earlier this month, Huff posted to YouTube audio and video footage of the stop taken from Reichert's dashboard camera. No shots were fired in the incident. No one was beaten, arrested or even handcuffed. Reichert found no measurable amount of contraband in Huff's car. But Huff's 17-and-a-half minute video raises important questions about law enforcement and the criminal justice system, including the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, the drug war, profiling and why it's so difficult to take problematic cops out of the police force.

The video: Breakfast in Collinsville (with Michael Richert), and its mostly from the POV of the police car. Pretty typical overbearing cop during an interstate stop who won't take "I won't consent" and "I want to go" for an answer. Finally he gets out the drug dog that doesn't alert and then searches anyway. This is a really long article, but typical Balko: excellent coverage.

WILLIAMS: Manufactured gaffes

This presidential campaign cycle can be measured by gaffes; they are becoming a way of marking time. Something could be said to have happened between the Holocaust survivor phone calls in Florida and "I'm not concerned about the very poor."

Obama senior adviser David Plouffe went on the air last ...

Bus inspections remain lax despite crashes

HOUSTON — Months after their state-certified vehicle inspection station was cited by federal authorities for failing to notice defects in a bus that crashed in North Texas, killing 17 passengers, brothers Alam and Cesar Hernandez shuttered their business.

But that didn't mean they were out of the vehicle inspection ...

American Scene: Widow of teacher slain in Yemen felt no threat

PENNSYLVANIA

HARRISBURG — The widow of a teacher from central Pennsylvania who was killed in Yemen two weeks ago says the family knew the risks of living there but never felt threatened.

Joel Shrum, 29, of Mount Joy was gunned down March 18 in the central city of Taiz, ...

American Scene: Widow of teacher slain in Yemen felt no threat

PENNSYLVANIA

HARRISBURG — The widow of a teacher from central Pennsylvania who was killed in Yemen two weeks ago says the family knew the risks of living there but never felt threatened.

Joel Shrum, 29, of Mount Joy was gunned down March 18 in the central city of Taiz, ...

HPV infection lasts longer in black women, study shows

CHICAGO — Provocative new research might help explain why black women are so much more likely than whites to develop and die from cervical cancer: They seem to have more trouble clearing HPV, the virus that causes the disease.

Doctors have long thought that less access to screening and ...

HPV infection lasts longer in black women, study shows

CHICAGO — Provocative new research might help explain why black women are so much more likely than whites to develop and die from cervical cancer: They seem to have more trouble clearing HPV, the virus that causes the disease.

Doctors have long thought that less access to screening and ...

Showdown in Motown

Opinion Journal - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36
Michigan offers Detroit a chance to save itself from bankruptcy.


Consumer Confidential

Opinion Journal - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36
Congress moves to plug a loophole that weakens attorney-client privilege.


Assailing the Supreme Court

Opinion Journal - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36
The legal left echoes Newt Gingrich on judicial power.


Palmer, Glen and Wolfowitz: How About Some World Governance Goals?

Opinion Journal - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36
Progress against poverty requires measuring countries by the rule of law, judicial independence and free speech.


George Melloan: Federal Lending Is as Rotten as Federal Borrowing

Opinion Journal - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36
Uncle Sam has a loan for everyone, and many of them are likely to go bad.


Fouad Ajami: Obama and the Eisenhower Standard

Opinion Journal - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36
When crafting foreign policy, the late president didn't 'give a damn how the election goes.'


Jay Nordlinger: The Anti-American Nobel Prize

Opinion Journal - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36
Norway's judges don't like the pro-freedom foreign policy of some U.S. presidents.


Scott and Silverman: The Alternative to Shareholder Class Actions

Opinion Journal - Wed, 2025-05-14 18:36
The SEC blocks arbitration without any explanation.


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