Pubdate: Wed, 30 Sep 2015
Source: Trentonian, The (NJ)
Copyright: 2015 The Trentonian
Contact:  http://www.trentonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006
Author: Jeff Edelstein

WARRANTLESS CAR SEARCHES MIGHT BE OKAY, MAYBE

Court Runs Justice Off Road With Vehicle Search Decision

Generally speaking, when I hear stories about the police gaining more 
power over the citizens they're sworn to protect and serve, I don't 
like it. I don't like the idea of police officers having unchecked 
powers, don't like the idea of living at the mercy of the police, 
don't like the idea of anything resembling a police state.

But when it comes to the state Supreme Court's recent reversal of 
itself when it comes to probable cause searches of cars, I've got no 
problem with it.

Basically, since 2009, officers would need to call a judge to get a 
search warrant to take a look inside your car if the officer believed 
there was contraband inside. Now, all the officer needs is probable 
cause to search.

On the surface, this seems bad (and it could be, I'll get to that in 
a moment). But what New Jersey is doing is no different than what is 
done in nearly every state, as well as on the federal level. Without 
getting too wonky here, the United States Supreme Court long ago 
carved out a "motor vehicle exception," saying the standard of 
privacy is much lower in a car than in your home. No search warrant 
needed as long as there is probable cause.

And really, in a perfect world, this is ... perfect. If a cop pulls 
someone over for speeding or whatever and during the stop they see 
something that demonstrates there's probable cause to search, the 
officer should be able to search the car. This seems prudent.

Of course, we don't live in a perfect world.

I've told this story a bunch of times, so here's a quickie recap: I 
was a neo-hippie with the hair and everything, and me and two of my 
friends were pulled over on I-195 long ago. Before you can say, 
"outta the car, longhair" we were outta the car and the cop was 
tearing it apart. No probable cause. Just "appeared" we might be 
holding some dope. (We were, but that's besides the point, and no, he 
didn't find it.)

That's bad policing, obviously, and a clear overstepping of bounds. 
We were pulled over, license and registration, and then everyone out 
of the car. All our IDs were checked. Soup to nuts, and I'm not 
really speaking metaphorically with that last bit there.

So my (possibly naive) hope is that police officers today, some 25 
years after my incident, are more judicious in the way they use their 
powers. Use probable cause when there's actually probable cause. 
Anything less, and much like the state Supreme Court, I'll be 
reversing my own opinion.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom