SCOTUS Bushwah

It appears that Antonin, Ruth, and I don't agree.

A fellow was pulled over in Virginia because the police knew he was driving with a suspended licence. Virginia law says that the treatment for that infraction requires issuing a court summons and letting the person go. Instead, the police arrested him, searched his car, and found cocaine, for which he subsequently went to jail. When this made its way to the Black Robed Nine, Antonin Scalia said that "when officers have probable cause to believe a person has committed a crime in their presence, the Fourth Amendment permits them to make an arrest and to search the suspect in order to safeguard evidence and ensure their own safety". The crime, in this case, was the driving with a suspended licence. (Clearly, driving with a suspended license presents a clear and present danger to the safety of the police. Ahem. ) Even though the cops didn't follow the law (arresting instead of issuing the court summons), they're allowed to do a search, since they did an arrest. And if they find something illegal as part of the search -- they can use it. No taint, even though the initial decision was wrong.

I have a problem with that. I know, you hear about people who get off on the damnedest technicalities, and you say What??? But this goes too far the other way. This says that any path to a desirable outcome is okay. Break a law on the way? No problem, SCOTUS has your back. Thats just some little state law, anyway.

Ruth Ginsberg pointed out that if the police had acted correctly, the presence of the cocaine would not have been admissible; as they did not, it was. Whats the logic there, she asked -- only, she didn't mean 'why should we admit the cocaine when legally we should never have known about it'; instead, she meant, 'why should we let this guy off the hook just because the police screwed up?' Because we used to be a nation of laws, Ruth. Perhaps you remember? Perhaps she does -- she suggested a good solution would be just to make the offense an arrestable one - then, the search is legal. Problem solved!