Category Archives: Search

Category Archives: Search

Study on police behavior during traffic and street stops

Frequently, in criminal and juvenile court, defense attorneys challenge the decision that law enforcement had probable cause to stop and search persons who are in their cars or on the street. Recently, the United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics released a study regarding the frequency of such stops and the impressions of […]

United States Supreme Court decision on DNA samples from arrestees

Today, the United States Supreme Court approved the ability of the police to obtain DNA samples from persons they have probable cause to arrest and process for serious offenses. In Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. ___ (2013), which may be found at https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-207_d18e.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,0,792, the court forged new law. The opinion was a split 5-4 opinion […]

United States Supreme Court Rules Taking a Drug-Sniffing Dog onto a House Porch is Impermissible Search

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Florida v. Jardines, 569 U.S. _ (No. 11-564) (2013), that taking a drug-sniffing dog on a private person’s porch was a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution as it was an impermissible search unsupported by probable cause. In Jardines, the Miami-Dade Police Department […]

Consequences of inadvertently possessing a weapon at an airport checkpoint

With the holidays upon us, it is important that all gun owners or persons who live with gun owners do not inadvertently try to board an airplane with a weapon. Under Illinois law, 720 ILCS 5/29D-35.1, it “is unlawful for any person to board or attempt to board any commercial aircraft, knowingly having in his […]

United States Supreme Court rules the installation of a GPS device is a search under the 4th Amendment

Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Jones, 565 U.S.__, (No. 10-1259) that law enforcement’s attachment of a global positioning system tracking device on an automobile and its use to monitor that car’s movements constitutes a search under the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court reiterated that the […]

The United States Supreme Court on Warrantless Searches

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court expanded the ability for the police to enter and search homes without warrants. In Kentucky v. King, No. 09-1272 , found at https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-1272.pdf, the Court upheld a warrantless search of an apartment where the police smelled marijuana and believed that evidence was being destroyed inside. Although the United States […]

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