A SMALL VICTORY FOR THE LITTLE GUY...THE JUSTICES GET ONE RIGHT
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Artist:
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Album:The Eflectic: 2 sides II A Book
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Track:The Bus Search
The United States Supreme Court got one right yesterday. The Justices ruled, by 5 to 4 that law enforcement officers cannot search a vehicle as a matter of routine as part of a stop for a moving violation, or other miner infraction. The Majority took the extraordinary step of going out of their way to say that prior rulings were an incorrect interpretation of the law. Perhaps the most startling, and frankly delightful, aspect of this ruling was the constitution of the majority. Justice John Paul Stevens, the closest thing the Court has to a centrist, wrote the opinion, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, & Justice David Souter, two of the most liberal justices on the bench. They were joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Clarence Thomas. The most conservative Justces on the bench.
This ruling has far-reaching implications. And can serve as a valuable tool for the citizens to use to combat racial profiling.
Notch one for the little guy.
Comments (13)
Very good..I like..and phew it was 5 to 4.
5-4 is pretty close, but it's better than the alternative.
This will make it less likely that they'll find the ninety pounds of nitroglycerin I keep in my trunk for emergencies.
My worry is measured in fractions of ounces.
Surprising . . . and refreshing.
Scalia no doubt agreed that the original purpose of the V Amendment was to stop arbitrary searches and that this would be too tempting for officers. What is a little surprising to me is that it did not get one more vote from either Kennedy or Breyer. Check out Oyez.org to get your Supreme Court geek on! You can listen to recordings of oral arguments and look at all kinds of history.
Hey Oatmeal! Good to see your smiling......enigmatic avatar! how you been?
Oh man, busy. But I am at least popping in again. Few weeks and I can live again.
Thought the comment about Kennedy and Breyer was astute. Even when they come out right, I don't have much use for Scalia and Thomas. There have been some truly dismal SC appoiintments over the past few years.
I read about this ruling in today's paper. It's about goddamn time! I have run into more cop's on power trips then I care to remember.
I got pulled over the other day (for NO GOOD reason). When I queried the fine young officer of the law as to his reason for stopping me - he didn't like the fact my license plate had a frame around it! He didn't write me up, mind you. When he couldn't find anything to bag me for, he so "nicely" let me go.
Asshole
Berkley: Yeah, everything about Roberts and Alito screams 'asshole' to me!
Problem with cops is that they mistake their roles so often that they endanger getting convictions on worthy cases because they think any means justify some sort of law and order goal. It is pretty BS.
I'll never forget a Constitutional Law class that I took teaching me the complete opposite but I agree with the ruling here. Finally to me it seems the US Supreme Court got it right!
Thank you for sharing.
"Ginsburg wants me," Denny Crane.