General Discussion

Ichingcarpenter

(36,988 posts) Sun May 4, 2014, 03:59 AM May 2014

Federal Court: The Police Can Stop and Search You for Behaving Innocently [View all]

A federal appeals court just ruled that the police have a legal right to stop, search and arrest you for innocent behavior including driving with your hands at the ten-and-two position on the steering wheel at 7:45 p.m., taking a scenic route and having acne.

To the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, these factors added up to fit the profile of a person smuggling undocumented immigrants and drugs. The court said, "Although the factors, in isolation, may be consistent with innocent travel ... taken together they may amount to reasonable suspicion."

In other words, the police can now stop you for no reason at all. Law enforcement just needs to add a sinister context to your behavior, and off you go to jail. The court endorsed this expansion of aggressive police behavior in USA v. Cindy Lee Westhoven, No. 13-2065.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-bodine/federal-court-the-police-_b_5223918.html

48 replies

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Federal Court: The Police Can Stop and Search You for Behaving Innocently [View all] Ichingcarpenter May 2014 OP

Typical BlindTiresias May 2014 #1

No reason drivers should be exempt from "stop and frisk." Downwinder May 2014 #2

it should apply to no one. n/t 2pooped2pop May 2014 #12

^^^ This^^^ truebrit71 May 2014 #15

Yeah, well that's the way they do it in Russia.. so ya know. we're down with that. 2banon May 2014 #46

I have been told by local law enforcement that, Downwinder May 2014 #47

I can believe that.. 2banon May 2014 #48

I draw the line at random colonoscopy Fairgo May 2014 #3

They actually have random colonoscopies in New Mexico Nevernose May 2014 #30

What the HELL? woo me with science May 2014 #4

As a retired truck driver, I've known this for years. B Calm May 2014 #5

"Reasonable suspicion" is an oxymoron. Scuba May 2014 #6

The first thing I did was look to see if this was "The Onion." Brigid May 2014 #7

That's a trifle hyperbolic to say 'off you go to jail'. randome May 2014 #8

Publisher of the National Trial Lawyer Association or randome? Ichingcarpenter May 2014 #9

It's nice of the HuffPo alarmists to leave out this key section of the ruling: JJChambers May 2014 #10

Reasonable Suspicion to stop, yes. The search? Not so much. X_Digger May 2014 #11

you don't have to actually violate any laws 2pooped2pop May 2014 #14

A drug dog alert is PC to search JJChambers May 2014 #20

The ends justifies the means, eh? X_Digger May 2014 #21

She was trafficking marijuana; apparently their reasonable suspicion was reasonable JJChambers May 2014 #22

Which isn't an answer to my question. What was the RS for the drug dog? X_Digger May 2014 #23

I read it prior to this forum discussion; seems reasonable to me, and to the court, too. JJChambers May 2014 #24

So to confirm: You're cool with acne + nervous driver + tinted windows + two cell phones being RS? X_Digger May 2014 #26

I think you're confused JJChambers May 2014 #38

We're not talking about the stop, we're talking about the search. *sigh* See post 11. X_Digger May 2014 #39

I think you're even more confused JJChambers May 2014 #40

And what was the PC for calling the k-9 unit and detaining the person until then? (A search, btw.) X_Digger May 2014 #41

You should quit before you dig yourself deeper into your hole JJChambers May 2014 #42

Detaining a motorist to wait for a dog is a search, absent specific RS. X_Digger May 2014 #45

*tap* *tap* *tap* Is this thing on? X_Digger May 2014 #34

You omit this: Vattel May 2014 #13

It adds to reasonable suspicion; I thought the search was the result of a drug dog alert ? JJChambers May 2014 #19

Yes, but the use of the dog was itself a search. Vattel May 2014 #29

Actually running a dog around the exterior isn't a search and if the dog alerts JJChambers May 2014 #35

Nope. It depends on the circumstances. Vattel May 2014 #36

A sniff still isn't a search, it's a sniff JJChambers May 2014 #43

A sniff has been ruled by SCOTUS to be a search Vattel May 2014 #44

Almost every car on the road in Ohio is going 10 miles over the speed limit Erich Bloodaxe BSN May 2014 #31

The drug dog alert justified the search, not the speeding JJChambers May 2014 #32

Might as well just view cops as the enemy. Lizzie Poppet May 2014 #16

Nope...we're not a police state davidn3600 May 2014 #17

Remember when judges thought the Constitution was more than a piece of paper? Octafish May 2014 #18

Message auto-removed Name removed May 2014 #25

What the fuck? onecaliberal May 2014 #27

They hate us for our WUT? Blue Owl May 2014 #28

Thought crime ... aggiesal May 2014 #33

It just gets worse and worse... ileus May 2014 #37