"You Do Not Have My
Permission To Search My Car." And The Supreme Court Agrees!
See
Repeat after me:
"No, I do not consent to a search." Now Read This Story to Find Out Why(Marijuananews note: This is a very important ruling. While Iowa’s
law was unique, it undoubtedly would have been copied by many other states, had the Court
ruled in its favor. Many of our rights have been lost in marijuana cases, so it is
gratifying that this important affirmation was in a marijuana case.
If you are stopped by the police, and they ask for your permission to search your
car, just say NO.
Be polite, and do not resist if they proceed, but make very clear that they are acting
without your permission. Even if you are sure that you do not have any contraband, do
not give your permission to search. The police do not have the right to detain you
– or to threaten to detain you – while they get a warrant. They either have to
arrest you or let you go.
Always be very friendly and ask politely, "May I go now?"
If they search your car and find something, do not say anything other than to ask to
see a lawyer. Don’t say, "Oh gosh, it’s just my stash!" Or "That
must belong to my stupid little brother."
Now reread the above and repeat after me: "No, You Do Not Have My Permission To
Search My Car.")
Supreme Court: Iowa’s car-search law violates Constitution
December 8, 1998
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Police cannot be
given blanket authority to search people and their cars without consent after ticketing
them for routine traffic violations, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The court ruled unanimously that a search of an Iowa
man’s car after he was stopped for speeding violated the Constitution’s ban on
unreasonable searches. The challenged search had turned up marijuana and a pipe in Patrick
Knowles’ car.
The highest court ruled in 1973 that police can search people after arresting them,
citing a need to disarm suspects and preserve evidence.
But Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court
Tuesday that those needs are not as great when someone is simply being given a traffic
citation.
Concern for officer safety may justify ordering a driver and
passengers out of the car, but "it does not by itself justify the often considerably
greater intrusion attending a full field-type search," Rehnquist said.
"Officers have other, independent bases to search for weapons and protect
themselves from danger," he said. Those include the authority to perform a patdown
search of motorists if the officer has reason to suspect they may be armed.
Rehnquist also discounted prosecutors’ argument that officers needed to search
Knowles’ car to preserve evidence.
"No further evidence of excessive speed was going to be found either on the person
of the offender or in the passenger compartment of the car," the chief justice said.
Knowles was pulled over for speeding on March 6, 1996, in Newton, Iowa. An officer gave
him a speeding ticket and then searched Knowles and his car’s passenger compartment.
He was charged with possessing marijuana. A trial judge allowed
the drug to be used as evidence, and Knowles was convicted and sentenced to 90 days in
jail.
An apparently unique Iowa law allows police to either make an arrest or issue a
citation for any traffic violation. If they issue a citation, they can make an
"otherwise lawful search."
The Iowa Supreme Court has interpreted that provision to let
police conduct a search whenever they could have arrested someone, even if they decide to
issue a citation instead.
Knowles’ appeal to the Supreme Court said Iowa was the only state to authorize a
search whenever a traffic citation is issued. However, a ruling for Iowa might have
encouraged other states to enact similar laws.
Rehnquist wrote that even though the search was authorized by Iowa state law, it violated the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which bans
unreasonable searches and seizures.
(Marijuananews note: "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 person or
things to be seized." -- The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States in the Bill of Rights.)
Supported