{"id":53565,"date":"2014-05-02T12:30:53","date_gmt":"2014-05-02T18:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=53565"},"modified":"2014-05-02T12:30:53","modified_gmt":"2014-05-02T18:30:53","slug":"cops-need-a-search-warrant-for-your-car-nope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=53565","title":{"rendered":"“Cops Need a Search Warrant For Your Car? Nope”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pesky Constitution, try as it might, is no match for activist judges and certain law enforcement types.\u00a0 At least, those in Pennsylvania<\/a>.\u00a0 To wit<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Local police and legal professionals are calling the opinion \u201cbig news.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a significant change in long-standing Pennsylvania criminal law, and it is a good one,\u201d Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Under prior law, an officer who smells marijuana inside a car, for example, could only search the car with the driver\u2019s consent \u2014 or if illegal substances were in plain view.\u00a0(Federal officers, like FBI or ATF agents, can search, regardless.)<\/p>\n

Now, based on the opinion, it only takes reasonable probable cause for an officer to go ahead with a search without a warrant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prerequisite for a warrantless search of a motor vehicle is probable cause to search,\u201d McCaffery writes in the opinion. \u201cWe adopt the federal automobile exception\u2026 which allows police officers to search a motor vehicle when there is probable cause to do so\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Previously, a warrantless search was only allowed if \u201cexigent circumstances\u201d existed, the opinion states.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis case gives the police simpler guidelines to follow and (it) finally and clearly renders our law consistent with established federal law,\u201d Stedman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a ruling that helps law enforcement as they continue to find people in possession of illegal drugs,\u201d New Holland police Lt. Jonathan Heisse said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

While police rejoice over what\u2019s been a lasting issue, citizens might not be as thrilled.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an expanding encroachment of government power,\u201d defense attorney Jeffrey Conrad said Wednesday morning, while reviewing the 62-page opinion. \u201cIt\u2019s a protection we had two days ago, that we don\u2019t have today. It\u2019s disappointing from a citizens\u2019 rights perspective.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fourth Amendment?\u00a0 Posh<\/em>.\u00a0 The Constitution is living and breathing, you see.\u00a0 And right now, it’s breathing in the glorious Utopian air of authoritarianism and judicial oligarchy in support of a police state, and it is revived and refreshed<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Funny how that works, isn’t it?\u00a0 By turning a settled, intended letter into a shambling zombie, the courts and politicians are able to find ways to determine how “reasonable” people can be convinced that circumventing essential rights is part of the Greater Good.<\/p>\n

And really, what could possibly go wrong?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The pesky Constitution, try as it might, is no match for activist judges and certain law enforcement types.\u00a0 At least, those in Pennsylvania.\u00a0 To wit: Local police and legal professionals are calling the opinion \u201cbig news.\u201d \u201cThis is a significant change in long-standing Pennsylvania criminal law, and it is a good one,\u201d Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said Wednesday afternoon. Under prior law, an officer who smells marijuana inside<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":9196393,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9196393"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53566,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53565\/revisions\/53566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}