Posted
10/21/2009 06:31:00 PM
by Douglas
Thankfully, Justice Roberts was alone in his dissent of
Virginia v. Harris, otherwise the police would be justified in pulling you over for a sobriety check because you farted in someone's car and they called the cops:
The story in Harris essentially was that some woman called the cops refusing to give her name, but said that Harris was driving drunk in a green Altima and wearing a striped shirt. The police found a green Altima in the general vicinity of where she said it would be, and the license plate was “close enough” to the partial description she provided. Importantly, however, Harris did not commit any traffic violations (damn those pesky drunk drivers not providing any bases for a pretextual stop!), so when he pulled over to the side of the road, the cop followed suit and initiated a traffic stop. It is not clear why he pulled over (probably because he was drunk and saw a cop following him) or what the cop initiated a stop for (probably because he was a cop and he could). Anyway, Harris reeked and was arrested.
Wow! Is America returning to the land where you actually have to
do something illegal before they throw you in jail? Imagine my surprise. For reference, check out the
probable cause clause of Amendment number four.