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Okay. Do you agree with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision? I think this is wrong, wrong, wrong.
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I just read the majority of both the petitioner's and respondent's oral arguments and I have to say the Supreme Court got it right (that's usually the case with unanimous decisions).
You can read it hear if you like (it's very, very long)...
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_a...ts/06-1082.pdf Quote:
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The police officers violated state law in arresting Mr. Moore in the first place. What evidence did officers have to suspect that the man was breaking the law in some fashion (other than a traffic violation)?
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Virginia state law holds that there exists certain circumstances under which the officers may arrest a motorist for driving with a suspended liscence. One such circumstance is when the officer(s) has a reasonable belief that after leaving the scene the motorist will continue to drive. In this case the man was driving by himself, so the officers felt it was reasonable to assume he would continue to do so if they had left.
Furthermore, Virginia state law also stipulates that a violation of the "arrestable offense rule" does not evoke the "exclusionary rule" in regards to evidence found during a search incident to arrest.
The Supreme Court also held that arrests which breach state law are not inherent violations of the Fourth Amendment expectation of probable cause. Probable cause holds that there must only be probable cause to believe a crime has been committed in order to make an arrest, and does not take into account whether or not there exists probable cause to arrest.
Moreover, a search's validity incident to arrest does not concern itself with the nature of the crime for which the arrest has occured, only that it has met the standards set forth by probable cause.
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The Supremes just tore another chunk out of the Fourth Amendment. The police are now free to search anyone's vehicle...basically for no reason, other than a suspicion. WTF?
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The fourth amendment is still in tact. This ruling does not grant police the power to arrest or search individuals or their property without probable cause to believe a crime has been committed.
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Yet another situation where states laws have been usurped by an invasive, meddlesome government.
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I can empathize with your anger, I felt the same way when I first read the article but after reading the oral arguments I've concluded their ruling to be Constitutional.
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I didn't state mandatory. I said they COULD be arrested. Fact is if someone COULD BE arrested, and they DO GET arrested, there is no problem there in the slightest.
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It is arrestable under certain circumstances set forth by Virginia law. It also allows for people to call friends or relatives to pick them up or to let a passenger drive for the violator. There is a good deal of discretion available to officers in this case.