Free Republic

New laws giving Victorian police the power to conduct searches without warrants in high-crime areas will not stop armed violence in Melbourne, a western suburbs youth worker says. The laws will be used for the first time on Thursday when police target a section of the western suburb of Footscray for a three-hour period. Police will be permitted to strip-search people and search cars without warrants. They will be able to seize anything they suspect may be used as a weapon. Les Twentyman, who has worked with youth on the streets of Melbourne's west for 30 years, said Footscray was...

How many times have we seen it? Someone is pulled over for a traffic violation, or maybe just a routine traffic stop, and the next thing you know his or her car is being searched. Nevertheless, most of the time, it is with the consent of the of the person being stopped. Why are you consenting to a search when there is no probable cause for one? The answer is simple, people are not aware of their rights. The Constitution and the protections that it guarantees can be a bit daunting to "just regular ole' folks," but the gist of...

A tractor-trailer that was stolen while the driver took a break has been recovered, but authorities were still searching Monday for the five tons of fertilizer it was carrying. Sheriff's deputies recovered the empty big-rig just before midnight Sunday, less than 12 hours after it was taken from a stretch of road used as a popular rest stop for truckers. The driver had parked in the industrial area near Griffith Park Sunday afternoon. When he returned about five hours later, the truck was gone, said Lt. David Young of the Los Angeles Police Department's Northeast Division. The truck turned up...

THE sheriff's deputy who arrested actor Mel Gibson for drunken driving has had his home searched by fellow officers investigating how a police account of the actor's anti-Semitic tirade was made public, it was reported today. Acting on a search warrant obtained by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, investigators raided the home of Deputy James Mee on September 13 and seized his computer, telephone records and other documents, according to the celebrity web site TMZ.com. TMZ, citing unnamed department sources for its report, said the search warrant remains under seal and the outcome of the search has not been...

Breaking... Major 5-4 decision. This case was reargued and apparently Alito cast the deciding vote.

Use of police dogs allowed without a search warrant By DALE LEZON Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle A judge's ruling Thursday said it's OK for officers to use police dogs to sniff for drugs on private property without a search warrant. State District Judge Joan Huffman refused to elaborate after denying a request to throw out evidence collected at the home of a Houston motorcycle gang member accused of possessing methamphetamines. Police had permission to search the home, court records show, but their warrant was obtained in part because a drug-sniffing dog had detected the odor of narcotics at the garage...

March 31, 2002, 9:05PM Police-raid procedure raises privacy question Drug-sniffing dog used outside home without a warrant By DALE LEZON Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle A court case involving a drug raid at the Houston home of a Bandidos motorcycle gang member may help draw new legal boundaries for privacy rights and police search-and-seizure powers. State District Judge Joan Huffman is expected to rule this week on a key issue raised by defense attorneys for two people arrested in the Oct. 4, 2000, raid. The attorneys want to suppress evidence seized at the home because no search warrant was obtained before...