COURT RULES MOTORISTS ENJOY FOURTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS

The Supreme Court spoke clearly last week in ruling that police
officers may not automatically search vehicles of motorists they have
stopped for mere traffic violations.

The court's unanimous ruling found that citizens pulled over for
speeding, defective tail lights or other ordinary traffic offenses
enjoy the same protection in their vehicles that the Fourth Amendment
gives them in their homes -- "to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures ...."

The decision overturned a conviction in an Iowa case in which police
searched a motorist's car and found marijuana after pulling him over
for going 43 mph in a 25 mph zone.

The court said the search was unconstitutional for a simple traffic
stop and that the marijuana and related drug paraphernalia should not
have been admitted at the trial.

The point is that police officers can't routinely go through a
motorist's glove compartment and locked trunk or open suitcases and
bags during routine traffic stops.

But the high court also reiterated a 1973 ruling permitting summary
searches of vehicles stopped for cause, if the officers genuinely
believe their safety is in jeopardy or that evidence of a crime might
be destroyed.

It's a tricky balancing act between the constitutional rights of an
individual and the limits of appropriate police authority that has
been going on in the courts for 200 years. It probably will continue
for as long as there is a United States of America.

But thanks to the Framers of the Constitution, the rights of
individuals to protection from arbitrary state power must always prevail.

Checked-by: derek rea