TRAMPLING THE 4TH: DOGS UNLEASHED

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Illinois v. Caballes, allowing the use of
drug-sniffing dogs at traffic stops, does not pass the sniff test.

Roy Caballes was driving 6 mph over the speed limit. While being ticketed,
and even though the state trooper had no probable cause or even reasonable
suspicion that Caballes was transporting contraband, a second trooper
arrived with a narcotics-detection dog.

It smelled something in the trunk. The officers opened it, found marijuana
and arrested him. The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the conviction.

By reversing that decision, the U.S. Supreme Court gives the government
virtual free reign to escalate the most minor violation into a narcotics
investigation.

It also effectively neuters Terry v. Ohio, which had created a two-part
test for a stop. The officer's actions must be justified (they were in
Caballes) and the stop must reasonably be related in scope to the reason
for it.

Justices David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented. They rightly
ask what now will stop law enforcement from sniffing around parked cars and
pedestrians. Minority communities especially should be troubled by the
possible ramifications.

The Fourth Amendment, protecting citizens from unreasonable searches and
seizures without probable cause, now is at the mercy of a dog's nose. And
the government's whim.