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[Supreme] Court: Traffic stop OK despite mistake of law (Roberts v. Fourth Amendment 8-1)
Associated Press ^
| Dec. 15, 2014 12:12 PM EST
| Sam Hananel
Posted on 12/16/2014 7:46:02 AM PST by Olog-hai
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So Roberts just said that ignorance of the law is an excuse. That certainly opens up a can of worms. Believe it or not, Sotomayor was the sole dissenter.
1
posted on
12/16/2014 7:46:02 AM PST
by
Olog-hai
To: Olog-hai
Only the cops get to make their own laws.
YOU do not.
2
posted on
12/16/2014 7:48:01 AM PST
by
Paladin2
To: Olog-hai
“So Roberts just said that ignorance of the law is an excuse. “
He was not given a ticket for his brake lights.
He was charged with cocaine possession after he consented to a search of his car.
To: Olog-hai
A consensual search... There's the problem. The answer is always "Only with a warrant." Even if you have nothing to hide and the police have threatened to make your day miserable my forcing you to wait for hours you have a responsibility to freedom to make it difficult and force them to get the warrant. If everyone did, the courts would be so overloaded they wouldn't be able to get them.
4
posted on
12/16/2014 7:51:53 AM PST
by
KarlInOhio
(The IRS: either criminally irresponsible in backup procedures or criminally responsible of coverup.)
To: Paladin2
This is a HORRIBLE POS ruling. It will lead to many more abuses by police.
I’m really surprised by this one.
5
posted on
12/16/2014 7:52:58 AM PST
by
Clump
( the tree of liberty is withering like a stricken fig tree)
To: Olog-hai
What happened to the old “fruit of the poisoned tree?”
6
posted on
12/16/2014 7:53:43 AM PST
by
BenLurkin
(This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
To: Olog-hai
Once again, SCOTUS sides with police vs. people.
7
posted on
12/16/2014 7:53:46 AM PST
by
gdani
(Ebola has exposed the U.S. as fearful, easy-to-manipulate weaklings)
To: Olog-hai
8
posted on
12/16/2014 7:54:26 AM PST
by
Batman11
(Obama is not American.. he has no clue what it is to be American.)
To: TexasGator
Yup. You caught the key word there alright: CONSENTED.
9
posted on
12/16/2014 7:55:55 AM PST
by
piytar
(No government has ever wanted its people to be defenseless for any good reason.)
To: KarlInOhio
FWIW, for those of us sitting in suburbs close to that urban mecca in NE Ohio, we need police to have this authority. Otherwise, the chaos could easily spill over into the suburbs.
There is no constitutional right to drive. I expect the local police to be pro-active when drivers don't obey the laws when they pass through town.
10
posted on
12/16/2014 7:56:52 AM PST
by
grania
To: KarlInOhio
Um, I meant consensual...
11
posted on
12/16/2014 7:56:54 AM PST
by
piytar
(No government has ever wanted its people to be defenseless for any good reason.)
To: Olog-hai
The word "reasonable" is generally a legal weasel word. Nothing wrong with that, per se. Usually, it means that the JURY gets to decide what "reasonable" means.
Not so in 4th amendment jurisprudence. The government decides what constitutes "reasonable," and it voices its application of the word via the courts.
Ignorance of the law is nearly always a viable excuse when the government is the offender. The old legal maxim, "the King can do no wrong" never faded.
12
posted on
12/16/2014 7:56:56 AM PST
by
Cboldt
To: KarlInOhio
Yes, he shouldn’t have agreed to the search. Never ever talk to the police.....EVER.
13
posted on
12/16/2014 7:57:47 AM PST
by
556x45
To: KarlInOhio
The answer is always "Only with a warrant." With this ruling, so what?
Don't you think an excuse could be fashioned that some officer (mistakenly) believed that he was acting in accordance with the requirement to get a warrant, even though he hadn't?
14
posted on
12/16/2014 7:58:05 AM PST
by
Sgt_Schultze
(A half-truth is a complete lie)
To: Olog-hai
""I suspect most of you here were surprised to learn that only one brake light is required in North Carolina, even if you are from North Carolina," Roberts said Monday as he read his opinion from the bench."Not surprising at all. It's common in states with lots of farm equipment on the road. The older units -from when most of this code was written- only had one or none at all.
To: Olog-hai
Consensual overcomes need for a warrant.
I'd say they had a clue and searched a little more diligently than he thought they would.
The court is correct.
Let's put it in another frame. The cop opened the trunk and found a dead body. Now what do the cops do?? Close the trunk and say "Have a good day sir".
To: piytar
I think the key word here is ‘stupid’...
17
posted on
12/16/2014 8:01:19 AM PST
by
logi_cal869
(-cynicus-)
To: Sacajaweau
No, the stop was not consensual.
18
posted on
12/16/2014 8:02:20 AM PST
by
Olog-hai
To: KarlInOhio
The decision wasn’t over that, though. It was over making the stop.
19
posted on
12/16/2014 8:03:23 AM PST
by
Olog-hai
To: TexasGator
No, but the cop pulled him over because of the brake lights.
20
posted on
12/16/2014 8:04:17 AM PST
by
Olog-hai
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