Posts Tagged: Fourth Amendment

Can the Police Search My Trash?

Trash: To Search or Not to Search. Here’s the scenario: you take your trash out to the curb every Monday and Wednesday night. Seems like a pretty innocuous chore, but weeks later you learn the police have been collecting and looking through your trash in order to obtain enough information to obtain a warrant for… Read more »

DUI Law Struck Down by Hawaii Court

Hawaii’s Supreme Court struck down a law that may result in dismissal of over 3000 DUI cases.  The Court held that a law that criminalizes refusal of a blood or breath test violates a driver’s Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. A 2011 law made it a crime, punishable by up to 30… Read more »

Change In DUI Law Coming?

The Georgia Supreme Court issued a ruling recently that could make it more difficult for prosecutors to prove a DUI.  Georgia has a law that allows an officer to ask a person to take a blood or breath test and if the driver refuses to take a test, then their driver’s license is revoked for… Read more »

Colorado Man Stopped for Marijuana Based on License Plate?

A Colorado man has initiated a lawsuit in federal court in the District of Idaho because he was stopped while driving through Idaho last year.  Idaho law enforcement contacted and detained Darien Roseen because he had Colorado license plates.  Idaho officers searched the car for marijuana.   Federal and state law requires reasonable suspicion before… Read more »

Bowe Arrested for Marijuana Possession

Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver, was arrested on Sunday night for possession of marijuana and speeding.  The officer stopped Bowe for speeding and, upon contact, smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the car.  The officer found 14.6 grams of marijuana in the car.  Bowe had a passenger in his car who claimed… Read more »

Court Blocks Ruling on NY Stop and Frisk Policy

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals took an unusual step recently, blocking a federal district court judge’s ruling which found New York City’s stop and frisk policy unconstitutional because it targeted minorities.  The appellate court removed the district court judge from the case altogether, finding the judge had granted interviews during the trial, calling into… Read more »

NYPD Stop and Frisk Policy Discriminatory

A New York state judge has ruled that NYPD’s “stop-question-frisk” policy is discriminatory.  Under the United States Constitution and the State Constitution, people have a right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure; a right protected by the Fourth Amendment.  Even a brief investigatory stop is considered a seizure under the Fourth Amendment.  A… Read more »