It saddens me when people are clearly uninformed about their constitutional rights when it comes to police intervention. You remember the Constitution, right? Bonus points if you can you name the five rights guaranteed to you by the first Amendment to the Constitution.* They're all good ones. Maybe it's why they're the first things the founding fathers realized they forgot. D'oh.
So. Did you know that a police officer does not have the right to search your person or your vehicle unless you give him or her consent to do so? That's your Fourth Amendment right.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
*Sigh* Wow. They just don't write like that anymore. I'm all a-flutter.
So right, an officer can't search you unless you give him or her permission...oh, or start acting suspicious; this can include "...furtive movements, inappropriate attire, carrying suspicious objects, vague answers to questions, refusal to identify oneself, and appearing to be out of place are all grounds for articulable suspicion." Ok...good to know. I'd like some more to go on with that "inappropriate attire" one, but it's not why I began this blog, so it's a topic for another day.
Where was I? Oh yes. Searches and seizures. So, in the case of Terry v. Ohio, the SCOTUS held that...
"law enforcement officers may stop and frisk someone for weapons if they have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has taken or is about to take place and the subject is armed and dangerous without violating the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. " (emphasis added)
In other words, if police do a pat down search, it has to be for a weapon and cannot be used an excuse to gather evidence. Oops, not so fast. Should have known it wouldn't be that easy. Officers can seize things other than weapons found during pat-down searches but, an officer cannot ask you to remove something from your pocket, as by this point it is apparent he or she is no longer searching for a weapon, but evidence.
This has been a public service announcement encouraging you to flex your rights. The following story led to me this tirade, if only because this guy was just so darn...dumb. Enjoy.
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PORT CLINTON -- A Toledo man is scheduled to be in court Wednesday after police reportedly found a marijuana pipe in his pocket, according to a report from the Port Clinton Police Department. Daniel Driftmyer, 32, was charged with possessing drug paraphernalia, the report shows.
An officer stopped a vehicle in the 300 block of Monroe Street at 4:50 a.m. Monday. Police stated Driftmyer, the front-seat passenger, appeared to be very nervous. The officer asked Driftmyer to get out of the car, frisked him and found the pipe in Driftmyer's right front coat pocket, according to the report. Driftmyer told police the pipe belonged to a friend, police stated.
He was arrested and taken to the police station, where he was charged and signed a recognizance form. The report shows he is on parole. Driftmyer told police he meets with his parole officer once a month and he would tell the officer about the current charge, according to police.
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Poor guy. Didn't his mother parole officer ever teach him not to tool around looking nervous at 4:50 in the morning carrying a piece in your pocket? Come on!
*(freedom of speech, of religion, freedom of the press, freedom to assembly, and freedom to petition. I told you they were good!)
That's some really interesting (and potentially extremely useful) information. Hopefully, I won't ever need it : P, but still...very interesting. It doesn't surprise me, though, that the guy let the officer check him. He was probably too high to even care at that second, even if he did know about the fourth amendment.
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
NIce Blog. Very useful information. I love watching cop shows. and it always gets me when they willing allow officers to search their vehicles.
But officers can be very scary. I would probably allow them to do anything at of pure fear.
had to learn that in high school.
I used to be scared of cops in Phoenix, but after i heard rumors about some of them going to *ahem* certain "spa's" and letting drunk drivers get out of a ticket in exchange for a certain service *ahem,* and concluding to myself that there is a slight possibility of this being true, I'm not scared of em anymore.
yay, bonus points for you. :)