Supreme Court Rules On Searching Cars
 Thursday, April 23rd, 2009  by Connie T.

In October of 2008, a man was pulled over in Arizona. He was arrested for driving under a suspended license, handcuffed, and locked in a patrol car while police searched his vehicle. During the search, they found cocaine in a jacket pocket and the man, Gant, was charged and convicted of drug offenses.

This week, the Supreme Court of Arizona reversed the decision, ruling in favor of the fourth Amendment: Gant was not asked by the officers if they could search his vehicle, and the State Supreme Court found the search "unreasonable" because the search was not justified by either the interest of officer safety nor the interest of preserving evidence.

Police may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle incident to a recent occupant's arrest only if it is reasonable to believe that the arrestee might access the vehicle at the time of the search or that the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest.

Warrantless searches are per se unreasonable.
-Arizona V. Gant.

Thanks, Rescue Liberty!

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