After 28 years of unconstitutional searches, Supreme Court FINALLY upholds the 4th Amendment

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I have long been against the way officers search people’s cars, and finally the SC ruled that it was an (obvious) violation of 4th Amendment rights.

Before the ruling, officers were able to search anywhere and anything within the passenger compartment of a vehicle after they arrested someone, Sioux Falls Police Chief Doug Barthel said. Now, officers must get consent for a search or have “reasonable belief” there is evidence of a crime within the vehicle to allow them to search the passenger compartment, he said.

I have long beleived that your vehicle is no different then your house. An officer must have a warrant or permission to search your home, unless there is “reasonable belief”. For example he smells pot smoke, sees a dead body laying on your living room floor, etc. etc. I think it is bogus that this rule has been in affect for 28 years. It seems now days when an officer pulls you over for a traffic violation, they already assume you are a drug trafficker. Guilty until proven innocent is not how the 4th Amendment works.

“Originally, the rule was for an officer’s safety and trying to control the situation, but only later did they realize the use of traffic stops could enable police to investigate just to see if there was any criminal activity, with the focus often being on drugs,” she said.

It really does come down to the pointless and very expensive war on drugs which has clogged our courts and prisons with addicts not criminals. Our police should be focusing on real criminals like the ones that wear white collars in our banks across the country.

Robert Doody, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota said it best on the new ruling;

“It was an expansion of the ability to search beyond what the Fourth Amendment would allow for,” he said. “Now you see the Supreme Court putting the brakes on it.”

I hope this is a new direction for our SC when it comes to constitution.

Drug Dogs @ local music club?

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UPDATE: Last night I was at Nutty’s North and asked about the drug dogs, rumor has it (yup more rumors – sorry) that the SFPD retrieved a phone from a hippie kid who died and found all kinds of messages and texts about drug trafficking at hippie concerts, so the cops have been sitting out on the sidewalk by the club during those kind of shows busting people. Mind you, they have legal authority to do that, because it is public property, but I would think they would have better things to do then bust young people for a couple of joints. The prudent, and intelligent thing to do is to investigate who is the ‘Kingpin’ in the operation instead swatting the flys. But hey, I’m no detective, so what do I know.

I heard a rumor yesterday that police brought drug dogs in Nutty’s North during a concert. Not sure if it is true, just wondering if anyone out their can verify?

This is disenhearting for several reasons. First off it is a clear violation of 4th Amendment rights, which of course is unconstitutional. The police either need a warrant or the establishment owner calling 911 and telling them they suspect drugs on the premise and want an investigation. Drug dogs can only legally search public property otherwise. I heard the search was random.

It is also disappointing beacuse all we ever hear about 24/7 from our city leaders is how we need a fricking Event Center to bring in top entertainment. Well guess what, Nutty’s brings in TOP ENTERTAINMENT, and then you turn drug dogs loose on them?

Until Sioux Falls pulls the conservative corncob out of our asses we will NEVER compete in entertainment with anyone in the region.

Blanchard; Close, but no cigar

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Once again Mr. Blanchard is justifying the behavior of our country’s worst president, because he ‘kept us safe’.

After the World Trade Center fell, Bush decided that stopping the next attack was not a matter of law enforcement, but a matter of war. It was imperative to find out what the terrorists were planning, and make them stop. I think he was right to do so. His most vociferous critics accused him of trampling of civil liberties, but I wonder how much those liberties would have been worth to most Americans if 9/11 had been followed by a series of terrible attacks. Americans have not yet been scared. The World Trade Center was in New York. We don’t want to see what happens when we get really scared. If you want to protect civil liberties, and I certainly do, you have to stop the really big scare from happening.

First off, I will address the 4th Amendment, and Bush’s ass-wiping session with it. I think most Americans don’t have a problem with the surveillance of ‘possible’ terrorists, I sure don’t. Afterall, it is his job to protect us. I think all we are asking is that he follows the 4th amendment and allow some oversight. Obviously national security prevents private citizens from knowing everything, but Shrub could have have asked people in the Judicial or Legislative branch for a little insight in what he was doing. It’s called building trust. He could have done that without violating the Fourth and risking national security. This is where people get suspicious – like when the NIA is building secret rooms in private phone company buildings . . .

As for keeping us safe, I beg to differ. He was warned about 9/11 and did nothing. He knew WMD’s were not in Iraq and sent over 4,000 American troops to their deaths anyway. If that is your idea of ‘keeping us safe’  I have some ocean front property I would like to sell you in Tea, SD.