Pubdate: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 Source: Columbian, The (WA) Copyright: 2008 The Columbian Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.columbian.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/92 PRIVACY PREVAILS Assume that you're riding in someone else's car, and the driver or another passenger lights up a joint. Then the driver goes through a red light and is stopped by a police officer, who recognizes the smell of marijuana and arrests everyone in the vehicle. The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday ruled unanimously that a 29-year-old precedent allowing searches and arrests of all occupants in that circumstance violates the privacy provisions of the state constitution. It was the correct ruling. Justice Charles Johnson wrote that privacy protections "do not fade away or disappear within the confines of an automobile." David Zuckerman, attorney for the defendant in the case, which stems from a 2006 traffic stop in Skagit County, said the practice has "led to an awful lot of innocent people getting handcuffed by the side of the road just because they happened to be in a car that smells of marijuana." The ruling does not bar officers from searching cars that smell of drugs and, as a result of the search, arrest one or more riders. And an arrest may occur of the occupant of a single-occupant vehicle in these cases where the smell of marijuana is apparent. Good for the court. This was its second recent unanimous pro-privacy ruling. On May 22 it ruled that acting in an odd or nervous manner in public is not sufficient reason for an officer to detain and pat down someone. - --- MAP posted-by: dan