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Barred From Federal Work Bolingbrook Pays Them $6 Million .................................................... John Gabriel, Award Winning Writer jgabriel@theweeklyreporter.com
.................................................... Silence Breaking Story
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U.S. Supreme
Court Limits Warrantless
Vehicle Searches
Supreme Court has turned tables on vehicle searches.
Silence Breaking Story
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w e e k l y r e p o r te r. c o m T h e We e k l y Re p o r te r B r e a k s T h e S i l e n c e ! M a y 7, 2 0 0 9 - M a y 13 , 2 0 0 9 Vo l . 2 I s s u e 19
Supreme Court Vehicle Search Decision Opens Path for Lawsuits .................................................... John Gabriel, Award Winning Writer jgabriel@theweeklyreporter.com
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vens, Illinois’s Associate Justice on the Court, delivered the Court’s opinion in Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. ____ (2009). Perhaps the court, under a civil-rights-minded president, President Barack Obama, has seen the light of the Constitution and finally recognized that personal liberties in the United States are protected by the U.S. Constitution even in 2009.
Since 1981 when the U.S. Supreme Court decided New York V. Belton (1981) states have gradually expanded warrantless searches often to the point of mocking the Fourth Amendment. Although the Belton case did not expressly authorize the search of a vehicle incident to an arrest, police across the nation used it as a foundation for searching a vehicle under virtually any circumstances. That is over. The illegal acts were allowed to flourish under conservative Chief Justices Warren E. Burger, appointed by President Richard Nixon, William H. Renquist, appointed by President Ronald Reagan and the current Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. appointed by President George W Bush. The interpretations of many cases that involved the Fourth Illinois’ Own U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amendment prohibition John Paul Stevens. against unreasonable searches and searches without a warrant were stretched beyond The decision involved a case their holdings by those looking in which Rodney Joseph Gant for any opportunity to avoid an Arizona resident was arrestthe restrictions of the Fourth ed for driving with a suspended Amendment. driver’s license. After Gant was Suddenly, on April 21, 2009 handcuffed and placed in a the U.S. Supreme Court has police squad two officers prodecided a case that sprung up ceeded to search his car. One like a spring tulip against an of them found a gun and the otherwise dismal background other discovered a bag of coof Fourth Amendment dilu- caine in the pocket of a jacket tions. Justice John Paul Ste-
on the backseat. Gant was charged with possession of a narcotic drug for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia. At trial Gant was found guilty but he appealed that decision. The case worked its way to the Arizona Supreme Court which concluded, “… that the search of Gant’s car was unreasonable within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.” The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified the interpretation of two important decisions upon which police nationally have relied to conduct sometimes outlandish searches bringing about absolutely wrongful prosecutions based on illegal searches. In the Gant opinion the Supreme Court said, “In many cases, as when a recent occupant is arrested for a traffic violation, there will be no reasonable basis to believe the vehicle contains relevant evidence.” That is, evidence relevant to the reason for the arrest. The U.S. Supreme Court held: “Police may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only if it is reasonable to believe the arrestee might access the vehicle at the time of the search or that the vehicle contains evidence of the offense arrest.” Silence Breaking Story Continued
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