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Supreme Court OKs Stop and Search Based On Anonymous 911 Tips

An anonymous reader writes "On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police officers are legally allowed to stop and search vehicles based solely on anonymous 911 tips. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority opinion, reasoned that 'a 911 call has some features that allow for identifying and tracking callers' as well as for recording their calls, both of which he believed gave anonymous callers enough reliability for police officers to act on their tips with reasonable suspicion against the people being reported.

The specific case before them involved an anonymous woman who called 911 to report a driver who forced her off the road. She gave the driver's license plate number and the make and model of his car as well as the location of the incident in question. Police officers later found him, pulled him over, smelled marijuana, and searched his car. They found 30 pounds of weed and subsequently arrested the driver. The driver later challenged the constitutionality of the arrest, claiming that a tip from an anonymous source was unreliable and therefore failed to meet the criteria of reasonable suspicion, which would have justified the stop and search. Five of the nine justices disagreed with him."
The ruling itself (PDF).

461 comments

  1. Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by tekrat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've got this hankerin' to call 911.
    This law could get repealed mighty quick if it's senators and congressmen getting pulled over from anonymous tips.

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
    1. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Be sure to use a payphone.

      Hmmm... I wonder if that's still "reliable enough" for reasonable suspicion.

    2. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Shows the level of maturity on slashdot, I suppose.
      False police reports are a felony.

    3. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by BitZtream · · Score: 1, Insightful

      What pay phone? The only 3 that still exist in the US are also covered by cameras I'm sure.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    4. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      So why was that guy driving a car while intoxicated and forced a woman off the road? What is the woman supposed to do, just accept that people smoke weed and drive while drunk?

    5. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by GT66 · · Score: 2

      And if you think 911 calls are anonymous, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you. Clarence alluded to the fact that 911 calls aren't really anonymous but he didn't want to just come out and give up the lie. "Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority opinion, reasoned that 'a 911 call has some features that allow for identifying and tracking callers' as well as for recording their calls,"

    6. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by silas_moeckel · · Score: 5, Informative

      Out congress critters gave themselves legislative plates it's the don't even think about it to a cop.

      The Justices are pretty much immune to anything but impeachment by congress so they do not care either. They also have a permanent protection detail that reports only to them and the ability to cite for contempt.

      --
      No sir I dont like it.
    7. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by erroneus · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's not a false report if you use enough soft language. "I *think* I heard something about something and they may have a thing in their car now!"

      But then again, that all depends on what your definition of "is" is.

    8. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by erroneus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes but that information will not be included if the anonymous tip came from other police or from a burner phone located in the police car.

    9. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by workdot · · Score: 3, Informative

      I've got this hankerin' to call 911. This law could get repealed mighty quick if it's senators and congressmen getting pulled over from anonymous tips.

      I like the logic, but the problem with that logic is that senators/congressmen/judges/state politicians etc usually have special license plates which make it clear that they are 'somebody'. Cops may see that and decide not to kick the hornets nest.

    10. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Caller ID is a bitch

    11. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      From the dissent:

      The Court’s opinion serves up a freedom-destroying
      cocktail consisting of two parts patent falsity: (1) that
      anonymous 911 reports of traffic violations are reliable so
      long as they correctly identify a car and its location, and
      (2)
      that a single instance of
      careless or reckless driving
      necessarily supports a reasonable suspicion of drunken
      ness. All the malevolent 911 caller need do is assert a
      traffic violation, and the targeted car will be stopped,
      forcibly if necessary, by the police. If the driver turns out
      not to be drunk (which will almo
      st always be the case), the
      caller need fear no conseque
      nces, even if 911 knows his
      identity. After all, he never alleged drunkenness, but
      merely called in a traffic violation—and on that point his
      word is as good as his victim’s

    12. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So is stealing a a pair of shoes worth more than $200*.

      *Depending on what state you're in.

    13. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by CanHasDIY · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What pay phone? The only 3 that still exist in the US are also covered by cameras I'm sure.

      I used to think this way myself, until I started paying more attention to my surroundings.

      There are actually a LOT of pay phones still in service, you just have to know where to look for them; most of the ones I've seen as of late were in gas station parking lots.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    14. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about their spouses? Their children? Do they get the benefit of special plates too?

      Just because a bad law does not affect them DIRECTLY doesn't mean they are completely immune to its repercussions. In fact, having his teenage daughter repeatedly stopped-n-frisked based on anonymous tips is probably even more likely to get the law repealed than if it were to happen to the politician himself.

    15. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by cb88 · · Score: 0

      That was true about 5 years ago in my area... There used to be a payphone at the local community college as well and one at McDonalds now all of them are gone.

    16. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      It goes far beyond caller ID. They know your GPS location and they know your phone. Unless you know how to set up a burner phone (it's not overly simple in the US - most prepay companies verify billing address). E911 is not a normal phone call.

    17. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      That kind of weak language would not be sufficient, you would actually have to say what they were doing that was causing you to believe a crime was being committed, and there would have to be a reasonable basis for presuming it. In the case of anonymous caller in the story, the reported vehicle had actually done something illegal.

    18. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      It's about as anonymous as an IP address.

      And we've already had verdicts rendered on how useful they are for proving who did what.

    19. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      Senators, Congressmen and SCOTUS get their own special license plates. The cops would simply decide that people of such distinction don't need to be investigated on such tips.

    20. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Use a burner phone. I'm sure that's what the police will do when they need reasonable suspicion.

    21. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Minwee · · Score: 5, Informative
      Perhaps she could accept that the police are bound by something called the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which says something about "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 persons or things to be seized."

      If there is probable cause, then there is no legal problem with obtaining a warrant and searching someone's home or car. The question is whether an anonymous, unverified report from an unknown source counts as probable cause. As usual, Popehat has a much clearer explanation of the subject than anything I have said:

      "So, for instance, if you call in an anonymous tip that I am running a meth lab in my blue house on the corner, and the cops confirm that I have a blue house on the corner, those details are not meaningfully corroborative. If the cops find evidence of witnesses seeing me move precursor chemicals into my blue house on the corner, that's meaningfully corroborative. Here, the police observed no erratic driving or other corroboration of meaningful facts. In fact, they observed five minutes of unremarkable driving. The only corroboration was the innocent fact of the truck being present on the highway. "

      If you don't see the problem with running the concept of probable cause through a paper shredder and then lighting the Fourth Amendment on fire then perhaps Justice Antonin Scalia's description might help:

      "Drunken driving is a serious matter, but so is the loss of our freedom to come and go as we please without police interference. To prevent and detect murder we do not allow searches without probable cause or targeted Terry stops without reasonable suspicion. We should not do so for drunken driving either. After today’s opinion all of us on the road, and not just drug dealers, are at risk of having our freedom of movement curtailed on suspicion of drunkenness, based upon a phone tip, true or false, of a single instance of careless driving."

    22. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by erroneus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Can you substantiate that claim? There are police who routinely harass people on the basis of 9-1-1 calls where people complain of something which is 100% legal. (I speak of open carry activity)

    23. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by kilfarsnar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Shows the level of maturity on slashdot, I suppose. False police reports are a felony.

      Who says it's false? I'm sure if I followed an important public figure around for a while I could catch him rolling a stop sign or two.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    24. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by bjs555 · · Score: 1

      It goes far beyond caller ID. They know your GPS location and they know your phone.

      I think cell phones are required to allow 911 calls even if the associated account doesn't have any call time left. At least a Tracfone that I had worked that way. I wonder how may millions of old discarded cell phones are around that might be used to make 911 calls tied to previous owners. That's not anonymous but it sure does point to the wrong owner.

    25. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 4th Amendment has been ruled irrelevant within 100 miles of a US border. You know, like an ocean.

    26. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      There's no lie to give up. Everybody knows 911 calls are recorded because we've heard the tapes played on the news or at trials for particularly news-worthy cases. As far as identifying the calling number, I'm pretty sure the cops have caller ID.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    27. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just so happen to be a collector of fine bridges! What's your asking price?

    28. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Jaysyn · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Our congress critters gave themselves legislative plates it's the don't even think about it to a cop.

      Yup. Makes me wonder if their family members also get those plates.

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
    29. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by roc97007 · · Score: 2

      I've got this hankerin' to call 911.
      This law could get repealed mighty quick if it's senators and congressmen getting pulled over from anonymous tips.

      That was my first thought. It might be time for some civil disobedience.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    30. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by roc97007 · · Score: 0

      > Be sure to use a payphone.

      ...if you can find one. And it hasn't been used as a lavatory.

      How about a burner phone?

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    31. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      You're right - E911 works on any network and even on unactivated phones. But unless the caller threw away the phone, it can be traced with the cell company's help. Either pinging the phone to respond with GPS or just triangulating by tower.

    32. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      Also, near the entrance to grocery stores.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    33. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      There's a price for civil disobedience, but sometimes it's necessary.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    34. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by roc97007 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Mod up.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    35. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      These days, all you have to say is "I think I saw a gun".

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    36. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by westlake · · Score: 1

      I've got this hankerin' to call 911.

      At the risk of a stiff fine and jail time on the misdemeanor or felony charge. You could also be looking at a very costly civil suit for damages.

    37. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by WhiplashII · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm sorry, but BUYING a pair of shoes that costs more than $200 should be a felony!

      --
      while (sig==sig) sig=!sig;
    38. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by roc97007 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No, don't go after Senators' spouses and children, go after their mistresses. Really hit them where they live.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    39. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly, we should compile list of senators, judges, lawyers, cops and their relatives. Call over and over till the law get's repealed.

    40. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by operagost · · Score: 2

      So how do those who identify as "liberal" like Scalia now, I wonder?

      He is firmly in the correct camp. I am not afraid of siding with Ginsberg, Sotomayor, and Kagan if they're correct. And they certainly are! There was no need for the search.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    41. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 0

      Just wear a hoodie.

      If some cowardly gun nut starts following you though, run like a bitch!

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    42. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by WaffleMonster · · Score: 2

      What pay phone? The only 3 that still exist in the US are also covered by cameras I'm sure.

      Substitute payphone for VoIP gateway and you are left with the same problem. We routinely get anonymous whackos calling us from all over the world appearing to come from local numbers. It gets easier every day to make a practically untraceable call using IP as POTS overlay.

    43. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Shortguy881 · · Score: 2

      More to the point, a cop pulls some one over, and suspects them of something but doesn't have enough for a search. The cop calls in reporting the car anonymously using a prepaid cell phone, a few moments later it goes out over the radio and he can now search the vehicle. Who's going to check who made the anonymous tip?

      Better yet, the cop does a search and there is room to question whether it was reasonable, so he just calls in after the fact. A few min difference on the report and no one would know. Hell, why have any restraint on police officers at all when they pull over a vehicle? We should just let them do whatever they want because clearly they are trying to protect us and it is in our best interest.

      --
      Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
    44. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

      GPS doesn't enter into it for most phones, particularly those that don't have it. What you're talking about it looking at which towers the phone has contacted and making a best estimate of where the user is. If there's only one tower in range - I gather that they have a range on the order of four miles - it can be quite difficult to locate a phone.

      In addition, the GSM standard requires phones to be able to make emergency calls without a SIM card, so the issue of identifying a registered owner is a non-starter for a phone purchased without one. They might be able to link the IMEI to a sales record, assuming the store records the date/time/location of each phone sale.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
    45. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by suutar · · Score: 1

      I was about to say it's more anonymous because you can get a phone without a name attached, but then I remembered how many places have free wifi.

    46. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by BiIl_the_Engineer · · Score: 1

      It shows how this shitty ruling could easily be abused in such a way that people's freedoms end up violated. This ruling is unacceptable, because it sets a very low bar before someone's freedoms can be violated.

      If always following the rules means you're mature, then anyone with brains or principles shouldn't want to be mature.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
    47. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Ted Kennedy killed someone with his car while drunk and nothing came of it. So good luck with those reports.

    48. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by jythie · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but depending on the local police, claiming you had a psychic vision or the baby jesus appeared before you would probably be enough.

    49. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by thaylin · · Score: 1

      the 4th has nothing to do with this case..This was about a pubic stop...

      If they had ruled the other way it would have been a mess..

      A clerk see someone stealing that is not caught on camera, police, sorry cant do anything, did not see it."

      Someone witness a murder, police "sorry cant do anything did not personally witness it."

      If you cannot question someone based on a witness tip most of the legal system grinds to a halt

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    50. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      GPS doesn't enter into it for most phones, particularly those that don't have it.

      The FCC mandated in 1996 that location capabilities be within 125 meters. This can be done with triangulation alone, but most phones started getting GPS chips around this time. If a cell phone is only on one tower, fine. But it probably won't stay there.

      Again, the registered owner does not matter if they are tracking by location.

      But they can also use their data to call that phone - even without the phone number - and simply ask the person. If they're a legitimate eye-witness, they'll respond.

    51. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No, you should wait until he turns his back and then launch a cowardly sneak attack on him for absolutely no good reason. You know, because you have to show the world how "tough" and "gangster" you are.

    52. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Culture20 · · Score: 1

      I'm going to bet they get special plates just like congressmen.

    53. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by mark-t · · Score: 3, Informative

      The stuff might be 100% legal, but it still has to be something that the person actually witnessed firsthand. Saying that you "think" somebody is doing something illegal is not valid unless you actually saw them *DO* something that you thought was illegal.

      And yes, I know this. Although this knowledge is admittedly based on my own jurisdiction and it's possible laws may be different elsewhere.

    54. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 2

      It's not a false report if you use enough soft language. "I *think* I heard something about something and they may have a thing in their car now!"

      Just do what politicians do - use performatives. "I want to report ..." or "I think it's important for you to know about it if...", etc. Anything after the phrase is modified by your performative, thus true in that space. "I didn't say he actually did it, just that I wanted to report it..."

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    55. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

      What pay phone? The only 3 that still exist in the US are also covered by cameras I'm sure.

      Substitute payphone for VoIP gateway and you are left with the same problem. We routinely get anonymous whackos calling us from all over the world appearing to come from local numbers. It gets easier every day to make a practically untraceable call using IP as POTS overlay.

      Which just goes to show the problem with letting dinosaurs whose understanding of technology is, shall we say, "limited," to make laws and decide how the scope of said laws are affected by technology.

      Maybe we should be demanding our "representatives" impeach one or two SCOTUS "justices," and replace them with some younger people who actually know what the fuck they're talking about.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    56. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      The stuff might be 100% legal, but it still has to be something that the person actually witnessed firsthand. Saying that you "think" somebody is doing something illegal is not valid unless you actually saw them *DO* something that you thought was illegal.

      I think you REALLY missed the point, which is the same one Justice Scalia raised in the dissent: people can lie.

      We've made some strong advances in getting rid of some BS things like paid informants, who were notorious liars. That resulted in a great deal of innocent suffering (Ruby Ridge is just one famous incident... there were a great many that never saw press).

      It doesn't matter if the language is strong, if the person speaking is telling a lie.

    57. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Arker · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "If you're walking around with a firearm you're almost certainly a <strike>paranoid idiot</strike> loyal and law-abiding US citizen. If the police weren't keeping an eye on you they <strike>wouldn't</strike> might be doing their job."

      Fixed that for you.

      --
      =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
      Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
    58. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      the 4th has nothing to do with this case..This was about a pubic stop...

      Oh, I didn't know that he flashed the lady... no wonder she called the cops.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    59. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Out congress critters gave themselves legislative plates it's the don't even think about it to a cop.

      It's like gang colors for rich old white people.

    60. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Scalia's daughter was convicted of drunk driving. Don't know about his other 11 children...

    61. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since Scalia's daughter was convicted of drunk driving, I think not. Don't know about his other 11 kids...

    62. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Referring to gun or penis?

    63. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      More to the point, a cop pulls some one over, and suspects them of something but doesn't have enough for a search. The cop calls in reporting the car anonymously using a prepaid cell phone, a few moments later it goes out over the radio and he can now search the vehicle. Who's going to check who made the anonymous tip?

      The lawyer for the defendant, who is going to produce the tape of the call and play it in court so everyone can hear that the voice is the same as that of the officer. Then he'll display the E911 data for the call that shows that the call was made from a location immediately next to the car. And then the final nail: he'll display a time-line of the events showing that the call being used to support the stop came in after the stop was made.

      Better yet, the cop does a search and there is room to question whether it was reasonable, so he just calls in after the fact. A few min difference on the report and no one would know.

      Nobody except anyone who looks at the times on the tapes.

      Let me ask you this: do you believe non-anonymous 911 calls can justify a stop? If so, what difference does it make if I say "my name is Fred Johnson and I'm reporting... " vs. "I'm reporting ...". That 911 operator has no way of knowing if I'm really Fred Johnson or not.

    64. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by PRMan · · Score: 1

      Sorry, but if you are accused of a crime, you're going to have a bad day (year?, decade?) until it's sorted out. I'm not that worried about a stop. I'm much more worried about DAs grabbing the first guy and trying to plea out a conviction without doing any work.

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    65. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by orgelspieler · · Score: 1

      ...a pubic stop... grinds to a halt

      Best. Unintentional. Joke. EVAR!

    66. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "While following the car they found nothing to warrant them pulling the car over. The only "suspicion" they had was an anonymous call.
      While it may have worked out ok in this situation it is a very bad president. I do not want to be pulled over for no fucking reason."

      I agree, I don't wanna be pulled over by Obama either.

    67. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's fairly obvious that we are missing some of the details of this case, but the analogy Popehat is using is very weak. Probable cause and reasonable suspicion are two different things, especially as pertains to operating vehicles on roads. They must have a reasonable suspicion or probably cause to search the vehicle, not to pull it over. Remember, the car is yours, not the road.
      Whether or not you agree with it, police can pull people over for any reason including no reason and send motorists on their way without issuing tickets. The tip that provided details of the car had nothing to do with the arrest itself as the woman didn't say the guy was carrying or smoking marijuana. Also, what does it matter if the call is anonymous or not? The police received a report of a potential crime and they followed up on it. She alerted the police to a potentially dangerous driver, thus providing a reason to pull the vehicle over. Sadly, the Supreme Court continues to show it's overt partisan nonsense with it's split vote, when this should have been a 9-0 decision. Justice Scalia's misuse of fourth amendment application is equally sad, just as his rhetoric about drunken driving is misplaced. Drunk driving checkpoints don't prevent drunk driving (directly at least); they only detect it and considering you can only drive drunk by, you know, actually driving, it's a reasonable public safety measure that is simply an inconvenience to those who are not drunk (again, the road does not belong to you or me). How exactly would one set up murder checkpoints? Scalia is grandstanding, though who knows what for (job for life).
      Getting back to point, had the guy not been carrying 30 lbs of marijuana, it's likely he would have been sent on his way with a warning and there would be no story or no problem. Claiming this is a constitutional issue is quite a stretch and the four dissenting judges should be reminded of what their purpose actually is.

    68. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by ShaunC · · Score: 3, Informative

      Makes me wonder if their family members also get those plates.

      In my state at least, the congressperson's spouse is entitled to one. Same goes for judges (and their spouses) who also get special "Judiciary" plates if they want them.

      --
      Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
    69. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      I am a self-identified liberal (albeit with a libertarian bent).

      Scalia's dissent on this particular issue is entirely correct.

      His opinions on many other issues (such as sodomy laws or abortion) are still entirely wrong. And, as a person, he is still a complete and utter asshole, though.

    70. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by RavenLrD20k · · Score: 1

      If it's e911 service, it's actually better than CallerID. I called 911 once from my cell phone for a medical emergency I was a witness to. Instead of me having to give the operator my location, he spouted it off to me to verify. I only had to give a minor correction as to the suite number of where the accident was in relation to where I was calling from.

    71. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by ultranova · · Score: 2

      If you're walking around with a firearm you're almost certainly a paranoid idiot. If the police weren't keeping an eye on you they wouldn't be doing their job.

      The job of the police isn't to stalk people with disagreeable personalities, much less harass them, but to investigate suspected illegal activities. If you think paranoid idiots shouldn't have guns, take it up with the legislature. But as long as it's not actually illegal, it's not up to Joe Flatfoot to try to make it de facto so through abuse of power. In fact, such activity should result in Joe, not the paranoid idiot, facing the court.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    72. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      You don't have to use strong language... all you have to do is tell them that you witnessed a car driving erattically, and believe the driver may be impaired. You tell them where, and when, and any information about the vehicle you can offer, and they will send out a unit to intercept the vehicle if they have any reason at all to believe that you are telling the truth. Again, I know this because I've done it. If they find absolutely nothing wrong, they will probably investigate *YOUR* call to check and see if it was a fraudulent report. I've never had the latter issue happen to me because I've never made a fraudulent report through 911. Since they can trace all calls to 911 anyways, the number of fraudulent calls tends to be relatively low and is probably not considered a significant risk factor.

    73. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, she did the right thing. The only question is whether the police did the right thing. I'm not saying one way or the other, just answering your question.

    74. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Minwee · · Score: 2

      Getting back to point, had the guy not been carrying 30 lbs of marijuana, it's likely he would have been sent on his way with a warning and there would be no story or no problem. Claiming this is a constitutional issue is quite a stretch and the four dissenting judges should be reminded of what their purpose actually is.

      So you won't mind if the police just drop by your home tonight and have a little look around, right? After all, if you have nothing to hide you have no need of constitutional rights.

    75. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by KalvinB · · Score: 1

      Go ahead.

      The whole point of the ruling is recognizing that an "anonymous" tip isn't really anonymous to the police. They can track down who made the call. They have the call recorded. So if you decide to file false reports against people, there are laws for that.

      This was a no-brainer ruling that police are allowed to act on anonymous information. And if in the process of acting on a tip they deem worth putting resources on they find other things you're doing wrong, they have every right to act on that as well.

      The cops had no idea this guy was hauling drugs. They pursued the information because they thought the information was worth putting resources into.

      It's up to the cops to decide if they're going to risk the cost and embarrassment of following up a tip without getting some identifying information about the tipster.

    76. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you dial 911 from any cellular phone, it should connect to a 911 office - the phone does not need to be registered, so you can zero out all identifying information and still pass the call.

      the only meaningful things they can get are the hardware ID and gps coordinates...and if you're using someone else's throwaway phone from inside a building, neither of those things will mean squat.

       

    77. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by j-beda · · Score: 1

      If you cannot question someone based on a witness tip most of the legal system grinds to a halt

      The difficulty comes when the "witness tip" is anonymous. The use of an anonymous tip as the sole evidence of a "reasonable cause" for further stop and search activities has huge potential for abuse.

    78. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're walking around worrying someone who is openly carrying a firearm will snap and kill you, then you are also almost certainly a paranoid idiot. Now that I've converted you to my point of view then I can go on with my life.

    79. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Shortguy881 · · Score: 1

      The lawyer would have to now the officer in question at least well enough to recognize his voice over the phone. Not likely. Who would question the call came from near the car? The person was driving near it when they witnessed it do X.

      Also, I think you missed the point of adjusting the time on the ticket and report of the stop. That would put it after the call. if you tried to verify by dash cam, its only a few min, so within a margin of error and that's if you can get the dash cam tape. See the examples from LA.

      Also, I do not believe non-anonymous 911 calls justify stopping the car and most certainly do not justify searching it.

      --
      Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
    80. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by dunkindave · · Score: 1

      That is missing the point of the justices. They aren't saying the police need to have witnessed the crime, just that a witness must be available to testify that they told the police what they saw. Without such a witness there is no one to charge with lying when the claim is shown to be false. If the tip is truly anonymous then if it is found to have been a false report (as opposed to a mistaken report) there would be no one to go after, while if the report is made through a 911 call the justices reasoned that the recordings that are made along with the telephone record of the phone number that placed the call provide enough non-anonymity to use the information as probable cause.

      As a side note, while the issue of faking a call's origin is a problem, as well as calls made from pay phones or burn phones, each of these cases has an analogous situation in the physical world. A faked call origin is similar to a person making a claim while presenting a fake ID or giving a fake/other person's name, and calls from a pay phone or a burn phone are similar to a person deliberately telling an officer something happened that required his immediate response such that he had no time to stop and get the claimant's information then beating it before the officer returned. In each of these cases the police would be acting on what they believed to be reasonable cause, and the courts would back them, even though they would later end up not being able to identify the person who made the claim. It would however open up the police to claims that they invented the witness's statement since no witness is available to corroborate having given it, unlike the 911 call for which there is, by law, a recording.

    81. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by jandrese · · Score: 1

      Yeah, there is no chance a 911 call could come from a pay phone (although this avenue is becoming quite scarce over time) or a burner cellphone or IP phone behind 7 proxies. The Supreme Court has basically just opened another door on swatting people.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
    82. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so few you can put a camera on evry one

    83. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      It's not hard to get boots that cost close to that, or more. Good hiking boots are expensive.

    84. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Even if you had the plate #, you'd still need to tell the police where and when you had allegedly seen the vehicle. It would fairly quickly be determined that it was a false report. Bear in mind that deliberately making a a false police report is a crime.

      Oh... and perhaps you were unaware, but 911 traces all calls. Still want to make that false report?

    85. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      I was about to say it's more anonymous because you can get a phone without a name attached, but then I remembered how many places have free wifi.

      You may not have a name attached, but the EIN is hardwired into it. Which is, I believe, the way that the carrier matches the phone number to the phone.

    86. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by mmell · · Score: 1
      It (theoretically) takes proof to convict. It only needs suspicion to investigate.

      Heinous as that sounds, I'm pretty sure that's how it's supposed to work. (*ducks and waits for flames*)

    87. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      It (theoretically) takes proof to convict. It only needs suspicion to investigate. [emphasis added]

      That depends on what is being investigated, which is the crux of the matter here.

      Generally speaking, it takes more than just "reasonable suspicion" for A SEARCH. It takes probable cause.

      The idea that suspicion, rather than probable cause, is enough evidence for a search is what makes this decision so controversial. And, I might add, more liable to being overturned in the future.

      A person's word that someone else committed a crime or infraction normally does not reach the status of probable cause.

    88. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by mmell · · Score: 1
      The officer suspected that the driver might be impaired (by drugs, alcohol, medical condition . . . whatever). He pulled the driver over.

      He smelled marijuana. Now he had a reasonable suspicion that the driver was impaired and that evidence supporting that suspicion would be found in the car.

      Or shall we have the police simply stop investigating all crimes which they don't personally witness? Mind you, I'm no fan of the police or their well-documented history of abusing the system to perform their duties. I just don't want to be mugged some night and not be able to get the police to respond until I bring credible evidence of that mugging in to the police department.

    89. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The FCC mandated in 1996 that location capabilities be within 125 meters. This can be done with triangulation alone, but most phones started getting GPS chips around this time.

      No they didn't. Top of the line cellphone in 96 was a StarTAC, and Clinton had only just signed the dual-use legislation into law that year. Cellphones didn't start getting GPS until much later, as in around the time 3G came in.

      And networks only put up overlapping towers where there's a capacity issue.

    90. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by thaylin · · Score: 1

      The witness tip was not anonymous.

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    91. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by thaylin · · Score: 1

      AGAIN it was not anonymous, and it was clearly covered in the decision.

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    92. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by sexconker · · Score: 2

      If you're walking around with a firearm you're almost certainly a paranoid idiot. If the police weren't keeping an eye on you they wouldn't be doing their job.

      If you're afraid of someone walking around with a firearm, you are certainly a paranoid idiot.

    93. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by suutar · · Score: 1

      That's fine. If they have no way to map that EIN to a person, they're still at a dead end.

    94. Re: Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Age has nothing to do with it. Most young people are totally clueless as to how anything works either.

      The thing we need is people who are willing to learn and not be woefully uninformed morons. Most of the Supreme Court are as dumb about technology as they are about civil liberties.

    95. Re: Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And this, even if absolutely true, has what to do with this subject?

      More right wing morons...

    96. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      A person's word that an infraction has been comitted does, however, reach the status of being able to ask the suspected vehicle to pull over and expect the driver to answer at least one question, which probably would have only amounted to "have you had anything to drink tonight?", perhaps with a caveat that they had received a report about the vehicle so that the driver understands the reason for the question. Police don't even really *need* a reason to expect that you answer such a question (roadside checkstops being an excellent example of this)... The fact that they had received a tip that identified a particular vehicle is more than enough to justify them tracking the car down and questioning him.

      Of course, you can, if you want, always say that you won't answer any questions without your lawyer, but considering the nature of the question, all doing that would be liable to do is end up with you being detained until your lawyer actually arrived. If one isn't driving impaired in the first place, what possible rational reason could one have for not answering a question they would ask absolutely *anybody* they had stopped on suspicion of impairment?

    97. Re: Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They don't drive themselves and neither do their spouses. They surely have grandchildren, nieces and nephews who do. Those are the license plates to look for.

    98. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      The lawyer would have to now the officer in question at least well enough to recognize his voice over the phone.

      What? All the lawyer has to do is play the 911 tape and a section of any radio call by that officer (or just let the jury hear the spoken testimony from him) for the jury to make a decision. The lawyer doesn't need to "now" the officer at all.

      Also, I think you missed the point of adjusting the time on the ticket and report of the stop. That would put it after the call.

      The time on the ticket would be irrelevant. The time on the radio call wouldn't be. I think you missed that point.

      Also, I do not believe non-anonymous 911 calls justify stopping the car and most certainly do not justify searching it.

      Ok, that's a consistent position. That's probably why many jurisdictions require the officer to view an infraction after locating the vehicle reported by a 911 call before they stop it.

      But suppose the 911 call said "I just saw a red SUV with a partial plate number of XYZ1 something hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk and drive away." Would that 911 call be sufficient in your opinion for an officer to stop a red SUV with the plate XYZ123 to examine the vehicle for damage and the driver for impairment?

    99. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First, this wasn't a witness. It was an anonymous tip. Second, they watched him driving normally for a time. That's pretty much all the questioning warranted here. Watch him drive, see he is not driving erratically, go away.

    100. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      A person's word that an infraction has been comitted does, however, reach the status of being able to ask the suspected vehicle to pull over and expect the driver to answer at least one question, which probably would have only amounted to "have you had anything to drink tonight?", perhaps with a caveat that they had received a report about the vehicle so that the driver understands the reason for the question.

      Not in my state. Here, the police can only pull you over based on probable cause of an infraction (or worse). "Reasonable suspicion" is not sufficient grounds.

    101. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Shortguy881 · · Score: 1

      Someone first has to make the connection that the voice on the anonymous call is the officers. Im saying that most lawyers are not going to listen to a recorded phone call and immediately think, this was the cop that pulled my client over. I should go get a recording of his voice for comparison.

      In the case where someone was hit by a car, I dont think a 911 phone call does justify stopping the car. There should be a cop, or at least ambulance, at the other scene where they can have eye witness testimony on the hit and run.

      --
      Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
    102. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know. I'm a eurofag and so don't really understand why the protections, supposed to be offered to American citizens by their constitution, are- at least, in casual discourse- so highly adhered to as the ultimate protection of citizen's rights against the state.

      Power will corrupt. We know this all too well. If it has to amend a piece of text to do so, it will - for the greater good (insert appropriate scarequotes wherever you feel this is appropriate).

      I understand that groupthink is frowned upon, and yet I must note that there's plenty of /. stories which report on alleged malfeasance by law enforcement by LEOs and which rapidly get a comment-trail suggesting that either (a) the police are all wrong or (b) the police are trapped in an institutional culture which approves of wrongness. That aside:

      What I don't see is the problem with someone being so distressed at perceived wrong driving that they would phone in a complaint (after pulling over and removing the keys from the ignition of course) that they phone the police and the police actually act on it. What is the burden of proof on the police pulling over someone who is driving erratically? Do those defending the guy targetted implicitly support a surveillance state by suggesting there should be recorded evidence of a misdemeanour before calling law enforcement? Do we really believe that a call from a mobile phone doesn't identify the user?

      I understand there's a difference between a pull-over and a search, but the article fails to make it clear where the one escalated to the other. I'm happy enough to enjoy wild speculation, but is that warranted here?

    103. Re: Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How does this make things in any way different going forward?
      Wasn't SWATing already a possibility before this?

      At what point did anyone here REALLY think an unidentified 911 call would not result in the dispatcher sending police out, and them probably stopping someone?

      There's a lot of butthurt on display here, and I'm shocked that anyone would think an operator would just drop a call if identity couldn't be confirmed.

    104. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whether or not you agree with it, police can pull people over for any reason including no reason and send motorists on their way without issuing tickets.

      Completely wrong. The right to not have one's time wasted by government is a fundamental human right. In the US, this is necessarily protected as part of the large set of rights arising under the 9th Amendment.

      For police officers to engage in the behaviour you describe is a violation of their oaths to uphold the Bill of Rights.

      Any judge making a ruling to the contrary is in violation of his or her oath to uphold the Bill of Rights in turn.

      Further, there is no legal authority for the government to grant immunity or right to pardon to current or former government officials who, individually or collectively, violate people's rights arising under the Bill of Rights. This too is a right arising under the 9th Amendment, superseding even the Presidential authority to pardon.

      Rights retained by the people being retained by the people, no entity of government can take such rights away. This is beyond even the Supreme Court, who themselves swear oaths not to do this when they take their office in turn.

      The human span of life is finite, and people do not live a tiny fraction of the time required to reach their full potential. That's why we call it a crime -- most commonly kidnapping or murder depending on the context -- when a random person steals a portion of somebody else's life.

      Oath's, incidentally, are also enforced under the 9th Amendment. Thus, a right retained by the people is the right to expect oaths of office will mean something (and the people, not the government, have the final say).

      In practice, of course, a corrupt political selection process results in selection of judges that are quite willing to violate their oaths. This gives some people the illusion that wrongful conduct by government is ok. It's much the same illusion that perpetuated slavery, or the separate-but-not-actually-equal system.

    105. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      So I take it that check-stops don't exist in your jurisdiction?

      They stop people at random and ask if they've had anything to drink... (most common around the holidays, but I've seen it happen at various other times as well). They don't even need to *suspect* that you might be impaired to pull you over and ask questions, they just need to be conducting an impaired driving investigation, whether or not a specific person may be alleged to have been impaired.

    106. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Tho considering the, um, 'quality' of people I've seen hanging out in gas station parking lots, I think the previous poster has a point -- I'll bet the major use these pay phones get nowadays is for drug deals -- the cops know it, and the phones are on camera... basically, maintained as honeypots.

      (I say this remembering where payphones and gang hangouts intersected, where I used to live in SoCal...)

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    107. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      That reminds me that I need to get a new burner phone.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    108. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      So I take it that check-stops don't exist in your jurisdiction?

      Correct. I have lived in states before where mass (100%) stops were considered legal, and I know of other states where random stops are considered legal.

      Both are quite illegal here.

      Police need probable cause not only to pull you over, but even to look up your license plate information (which is not public record).

    109. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Well, this happened in California, where sobriety checkpoints are entirely legal.

      In most states, the police do not ever even need a probable cause to suspect that a driver may have been drinking in order to stop them and ask if they have had anything to drink. If they hear of an allegation of an impaired driver, they are going to be obligated to stop the driver and confirm it, and it would be a tragedy if an impaired driving report were accurate and an accident occurred which took one or more other people's lives while the police did nothing, simply because they did not have any reasonable basis to suspect that the report was genuine beforehand.

    110. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      I'm in favour of open carry, but I think your definition of "harass" is rather silly. Most of the videos I see of open-carry proponents interacting with cops involve them acting like complete morons while the cops ask completely reasonable questions. A police officer having a discussion with you is not harassment, even if you chose to be a dick to them.

    111. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In that 5 minutes I guarantee that the driver did something wrong, the officers might not have written a ticket for it. But even the best driver in the world will make a mistake while driving inside of 5 minutes, if nothing else some states allow for a stop based on a drivers license check (IE you have to have a valid drivers license to operate a vehicle on a public roadway, I know for a fact that Texas traffic code allows for this, Source: Former law enforcement in Texas).

      Also, the article description is wrong. the court ruled that a tip is reasonable suspicion to stop a vehicle, the search was based on an officers observation of the situation, not the tip. Its a small difference but it is a note worthy difference.

      Also, small irony the captcha word was 'revoke'

    112. Re:Anybody know the plate# for each scotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do not forgive them for not knowing what they are doing. IT only works where there are no Chinese and no schizophrenics, these anonymous calls. Chinese will report ANYONE they *hear* voices over for ANY reason, even without having made eye contact. I have SIX detentions and SEVERAL other times the blue clowns were **controlled** through radio barely and did nothing... and all I am doing is SITTING DOWN WHERE PEOPLE CANNOT QUITE SEE ME, or some situation. Ten years of the same, you realize! There is more to it but to the bare bones, no one would approach nor cause any trouble save Chinese hearing voices and locating you like BATS through SONAR and never showing up. ANGER MOUNTS. Yes I think it is syndromic and Africans just do not make the call, but Chinese and the people diseased with them do try to confirm their voices with the police... and SOME police just will shoot and no questions asked, since it is them who you call when people are MISSING.... Tell those big ol guys if you CAN...

  2. This is wrong! by p51d007 · · Score: 1

    I did 911 dispatching, off & on for 20 years. You know how many "anonymous" calls we received from payphones (back in the day) about someone having drugs in a car, house, or their person? Officers might keep an eye, but unless there was ANOTHER reason to stop and search, there wasn't anything LEGALLY they could do, as it should be!

    1. Re:This is wrong! by GoCrazy · · Score: 2

      It's like peeling a letigous onion.

      The officers stopped the car under reasonable suspicion of drunk driving. The anonymous call was enough to equate to an eyewitness observation of erradict driving, according to this ruling.

      In a separate issue, upon pulling the truck over the officer could recognize a potent marijuana smell, which under the Plain View Doctrine (that includes smell) allowed them to search the truck.

      --
      No beer and no TV make Homer something something
    2. Re:This is wrong! by king+neckbeard · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Funny how their sense of smell works. They can recognize a potent marijuana smell in a vehicle that has never contained marijuana if the occupants look like they smell like marijuana.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    3. Re:This is wrong! by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      In a separate issue, upon pulling the truck over the officer could recognize a potent marijuana smell, which under the Plain View Doctrine (that includes smell) allowed them to search the truck.

      Hmm, is there any proof of this smell? If not, it is equivalent to hearsay, wouldn't you say? And no, 2 policemen do not make 2 separate witnesses, especially for this case. You only have to point to lots and lots of historical lying by police to invalidate that argument on reasonable doubt grounds. But then again, "smell" by itself doesn't do much for them, they need something tangible. In this case, they found plenty.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    4. Re:This is wrong! by GoCrazy · · Score: 1

      That issue is separate from this court decision. His fight was with whether they were allowed to stop his car, not the definition of Plain Sight, the validity of the "smell" evidence, or distrust in the police.

      --
      No beer and no TV make Homer something something
    5. Re:This is wrong! by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      Hmm, is there any proof of this smell? If not, it is equivalent to hearsay, wouldn't you say? And no, 2 policemen do not make 2 separate witnesses, especially for this case. You only have to point to lots and lots of historical lying by police to invalidate that argument on reasonable doubt grounds. But then again, "smell" by itself doesn't do much for them, they need something tangible. In this case, they found plenty.

      AFAIK, the statements of law enforcement are treated as fact, unless they can be proven false. So if an officer says he smelled marijuana, he smelled marijuana unless you can prove he did not. I'm not a fan of that either, but it is the way it is.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    6. Re:This is wrong! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But now there is.

    7. Re:This is wrong! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In a separate issue, upon pulling the truck over the officer could recognize a potent marijuana smell, which under the Plain View Doctrine (that includes smell) allowed them to search the truck.

      Hmm, is there any proof of this smell? If not, it is equivalent to hearsay, wouldn't you say? A

      No, I would not call that hearsay. Hearsay is when somebody is s claiming to know something they didn't personally experience, see, smell, feel e, hear etc. It's like saying, "I heard they said... " when they didn't' actually hear it themselves. That's hearsay.

    8. Re:This is wrong! by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      AFAIK, the statements of law enforcement are treated as fact, unless they can be proven false. So if an officer says he smelled marijuana, he smelled marijuana unless you can prove he did not. I'm not a fan of that either, but it is the way it is.

      I can assuredly tell you that is not the case without corroborating evidence, at least not everywhere, even in the US. While an officer's word may unjustly carry more weight in a he said, she said situation, any secondary statement or evidence will negate solely the officer's word in my experience. And that is as it should be. I'm sure there are cases where this is not true, several I'm aware of are now being vacated because the officers in question have been charged with evidence tampering, calling into question every case they've been involved with.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    9. Re:This is wrong! by gnasher719 · · Score: 1

      Hmm, is there any proof of this smell? If not, it is equivalent to hearsay, wouldn't you say?

      Hearsay is different. Hearsay happens when I say something outside the court, and obviously I'm allowed to talk a lot of nonsense outside the court, so when someone says in court what they heard me say, that may be evidence that I said it, but it isn't evidence that it is true. Here, the fact that the officer says "I smelled drugs" isn't evidence that there were drugs, but it is evidence that he indeed smelled drugs. And that is all he needs to search the car.

  3. Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does this seem like yet another easily fabricated excuse the police can use to search your property? Especially given that these are "anonymous", I imagine police could send in a false tip to have an excuse to search anyone they wanted. Perhaps it's just me, but I tend to think anything like this will be abused to the maximum extent possible.

    1. Re:Uh... by Le+Marteau · · Score: 5, Informative

      > Does this seem like yet another easily fabricated excuse the police can use to search your property?

      Uh... no. No search is involved or permitted solely based on an anonymous tip... just pulling someone over. This falls under the "reasonable suspicion" standard for pulling someone over. They pulled me over for "accelerating too fast out of an intersection" at about the time the bars were closing... that was reasonable suspicion that I was drinking and driving and all they needed to pull me over even though there IS no crime for "accelerating too fast".

      The "reasonable suspicion" standard is MUCH lower than "probable cause" which is required for a search. They still can't search you based on an anonymous tip... just pull you over and ask you questions, which you can of course refuse to answer.

      People discussing this issue would do well to bone up on the difference between "reasonable suspicion" and "probable cause". People misuse the terms all the time... they are very different, and anyone who interacts with, or may interact with the police, should know what the terms mean.

      --
      Mod down people who tell people how to mod in their sigs
    2. Re:Uh... by GT66 · · Score: 1

      Of course it is. The SCOTUS has been pro police state for years now.

    3. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The search was not based on the anonymous tip. The stop was based on the anonymous tip but the officers smelled marijuana during the stop which gave them probable cause to search the car. They did, in fact, find marijuana which suggests the officers weren't lying.

    4. Re:Uh... by n1ywb · · Score: 4, Informative

      This. The NPR article seems misleading. They stopped him based on the 911 call. Which seems reasonable to me. If some moron is driving like a fool I'd really like to cops to stop him. The probable cause for the SEARCH was due to the marijuana smell. I don't think this ruling is a broad as it's being made out to be.

      --
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    5. Re:Uh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      And this is exactly what happened, more or less. The search came after they smelled something (which I suppose is easy to lie about as long as they find something).

    6. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wasn't aware there was an acceleration limit on the books.

    7. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But, this allows any cop to harass you simply by calling 911 himself and giving a bullshit "anonymous tip" against you. There, reasonable suspicion rules thrown out the window.

    8. Re:Uh... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      The number of false reports to 911 is vanishingly small, and there is very reasonable to believe the tipster was telling the truth.

      Citation?

      And what reasonable belief did they have that the tipster was telling the truth? It's not like the cops saw the guy weaving down the road (they followed him for five minutes without observing any sign of impaired driving). Nor is there any evidence they went to the "crime scene" and saw the tipster's car in the ditch (which would have effectively made the report NON-anonymous, since they'd have had to get the tipster's personal information to fill out the police report on the accident).

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    9. Re:Uh... by mrgren · · Score: 2

      > ...even though there IS no crime for "accelerating too fast".

      There are such laws, usually prohibiting "exhibition of speed", "speed contests", and similar acts. In California, it is VEHICLE CODE 23109:

      Speed Contests

      23109. (a) A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway. As used in this section, a motor vehicle speed contest includes a motor vehicle race against another vehicle, a clock, or other timing device. For purposes of this section, an event in which the time to cover a prescribed route of more than 20 miles is measured, but where the vehicle does not exceed the speed limits, is not a speed contest.

      (b) A person shall not aid or abet in any motor vehicle speed contest on any highway.

      (c) A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway, and a person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on any highway. ...etc...

    10. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What an astonishing coincidence that he had those 30 pounds of weed. It's a good thing the police are so trustworthy.

    11. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Except if they didn't find marijuana, but found guns, cocaine, etc. instead, those wouldn't be admissible. This is how you are somewhat protected against trumped up probable cause (assuming you have the funds for a decent attorney, of course).

    12. Re:Uh... by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 2

      "reasonable" is a very, very difficult word for humans. They like much more the "all or nothing" concept.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    13. Re:Uh... by dirk · · Score: 2

      My issue in this case is assume he didn't have weed in his car, what exactly were they going to do to him? They track him down, pull him over and then what do they do? They have an anonymous call saying he forced someone off the road, but no evidence of it. They have no video, no witnesses, not even a real person willing to say they were run off the road. So they pull him over and ask him if he ran someone off the road? And when he obviously says no they just let him go? There was nothing they could do to him unless there is some other secondary issue like in this case.

      I can see now a lot of anonymous tips coming in from pay phones near where cops are hanging out. They suspect someone has drugs in their car, they just make an anonymous tip about the car doing something bad and then they have a reason to pull them over.

      --

      "Information wants to be expensive" - Stewart Brand, the same guy who said "Information wants to be free"
    14. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My issue in this case is assume he didn't have weed in his car, what exactly were they going to do to him? They track him down, pull him over and then what do they do? They have an anonymous call saying he forced someone off the road, but no evidence of it. They have no video, no witnesses, not even a real person willing to say they were run off the road. So they pull him over and ask him if he ran someone off the road? And when he obviously says no they just let him go?

      It depends on the precinct. In any civilized area of the country, they will question him. If he calmly and politely answers the questions, they let him go with a 'thank you for your time' or an apology for the delay. If the cop is having a bad day, they might write a $100 ticket for reckless driving that won't hold up if challenged.

      In certain areas of the country, once the driver stops, the police draw their weapons, call for backup and start shouting "oh no, he's got a gun" loud enough for it to be audible on the cop-car dashcams. The exact details get vague, but the driver will end up bruised, bloodied, and arrested for resisting arrest while his car is sold at a police auction.

    15. Re:Uh... by Kjella · · Score: 1

      This. The NPR article seems misleading. They stopped him based on the 911 call. Which seems reasonable to me. If some moron is driving like a fool I'd really like to cops to stop him. The probable cause for the SEARCH was due to the marijuana smell. I don't think this ruling is a broad as it's being made out to be.

      Well the cops did get a tip of one reckless maneuver that allegedly forced the tipper off the road. They tailed the truck for five minutes, saw no traffic violations or poor driving to collaborate the story. Then they pulled the truck over instead of being on their way. I'd agree with the dissenters, there's no reasonable suspicion of an ongoing crime - that is, drunk driving - and they pulled him over on a fishing expedition. One incident, observed by nobody but an anonymous tipper who may or may not have called it in just to be mean - I mean it's quite impressive to get a full license plate down while you're really being run off the road so some generous exaggeration may have happened. She didn't even accuse them of driving drunk, that's the court's argument that maybe they were while completely ignoring that the officers saw no sign of it.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    16. Re:Uh... by jittles · · Score: 3, Insightful

      My issue in this case is assume he didn't have weed in his car, what exactly were they going to do to him? They track him down, pull him over and then what do they do? They have an anonymous call saying he forced someone off the road, but no evidence of it. They have no video, no witnesses, not even a real person willing to say they were run off the road. So they pull him over and ask him if he ran someone off the road? And when he obviously says no they just let him go? There was nothing they could do to him unless there is some other secondary issue like in this case.

      I can see now a lot of anonymous tips coming in from pay phones near where cops are hanging out. They suspect someone has drugs in their car, they just make an anonymous tip about the car doing something bad and then they have a reason to pull them over.

      I would expect the officer to pull him over, make sure he's licensed and insured, and then explain that there was a complaint that he was driving recklessly. Just as I would expect the police to come and knock on my neighbor's door for if someone called and claimed they heard someone being beaten inside. They don't have to issue a citation, or search the person's property. Just the act of stopping the person can dissuade them from continuing their behavior. The moral of the story is to not drive like a total jackass when you have 30 pounds of marijuana in your car.

      I'm perfectly fine with the police acting on tips from citizens. Where this becomes a problem is when the "anonymous tipster" is actually a government agent. If you allow this sort of tip to be used, it can definitely be abused by the government.

    17. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Alright, assume there was no marijuana. According to the decision the 911 call gave the cops had reasonable suspicion to find the guy and pull him over. Maybe as they pull up behind the guy they notice he's driving with an iPad propped up on his steering wheel. Maybe the guy's drunk. Maybe they find nothing, so they let him go.

      Seems reasonable to me. Sure there are bad cops and bad anonymous tipsters, but I think it's up to legislators to craft laws to deal with that (for example, HAMMER people who make fraudulent tips) rather than have judges throw the entire concept out the window.

    18. Re:Uh... by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      I wasn't aware there was an acceleration limit on the books.

      It's called Exhibition of Speed, and there is a law against it. It's one of those great laws that has no clear definition and is up to the officer to identify.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    19. Re:Uh... by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      Only if you could prove that they didn't think they smelled weed. That's pretty tough, especially since they could reasonably attribute it to something else.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    20. Re:Uh... by Ogive17 · · Score: 1

      If they determined he wasn't drinking or doing drugs, they'd probably let him go. My dad is a retired cop so maybe (well, probably) there is some bias on my end.. I grew up around most of the guys on the department, sure there were a couple pricks but most of them were just normal guys when off-duty. Despite popular sentiment, they aren't out there looking to ruin someone's day just to get their rocks off.

      The amount of paper work that needs to be done to write a speeding ticket is prohibitive to most cops to be frivilous. Maybe they'll pull you over for going 5mph over the speed limit at 2am just to verify you're not drunk. 9 times out of 10, if you are not drunk, you go with nothing but a verbal warning.

      --
      "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    21. Re:Uh... by suutar · · Score: 1

      The problem with "reasonable" is that it's inherently subjective, which leaves lots of leeway for abuse. People don't trust leeway, and don't realize how much grief that leeway saves them from when used properly (giving the benefit of the doubt to the accused, not the accuser). Part of that is that most people don't seem to have doubt, even when they have little or no evidence backing their belief.

      On the other hand, the problem with objective measures is they don't account for changes in public opinion. That which was considered reasonable a hundred years ago isn't the same as what's considered reasonable now, in both good and bad ways.

    22. Re:Uh... by gnasher719 · · Score: 1

      "reasonable" is a very, very difficult word for humans. They like much more the "all or nothing" concept.

      It's not difficult for humans. It's difficult for slashdotters.

    23. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      maybe they would have just asked him if he was aware of the incident, say someone was upset, and if there is nothing else to do, tell the driver to be careful and have a nice day. I dont see any harm in police spending their time speaking with people and not arresting them, and letting them know expectations of driving rules. I have no problem if a cop talks to someone, determines there is no reason to continue investigation anything, and everyone goes on their merry way.

    24. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it's a safety issue, if the driver was impaired which there is a reasonable assumption under the circumstances police would be looking for that. If the driver didn't appear impaired nothing would happen and the driver would be allowed to leave.

    25. Re:Uh... by xevioso · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but to have a contest you have to have another car.

    26. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is up there with "disorderly conduct" whenever you disobey an illegal order from a pig.

    27. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not necessary to prove that. All you need is reasonable doubt that it didn't come from that person, which not finding any marijuana gives you. (i.e. Could the smell have come from somewhere else?)

    28. Re:Uh... by mrgren · · Score: 1

      Nope; you didn't read the code: "As used in this section, a motor vehicle speed contest includes a motor vehicle race against another vehicle, a clock, or other timing device."

    29. Re:Uh... by Montezumaa · · Score: 1

      Probable cause is still required to initiate a traffic stop. No matter what is claimed today, "reasonable-articulable suspicion"(RAS) requires an officer personally observe acts or other behavior to initiate a "Terry Stop". RAS doesn't allow for general traffic stops; probable cause is required to initiate a traffic stop. At best, if a call is received an law enforcement find the vehicle which was alleged to have committed some claimed "wrong", the law enforcement would need to follow and observe the driver, witness a violation, and initiate a traffic stop.

      In many states, traffic violations aren't enforceable by non-law enforcement. That is the case in the State of Georgia. That means that a citizen's arrest can't be effected in such instances. A law enforcement officer must observe a violation in order to issue a ticket, or effect an arrest. Though, instances like vehicular manslaughter, such restrictions aren't as heavy, as there is a mixing of traffic law and laws governing crimes against others(malum in se).

    30. Re:Uh... by Montezumaa · · Score: 1

      Again, probable cause is required to initiate a traffic stop. Do you even understand the difference between "probable cause" and "reasonable, articulable suspicion"(RAS)? Further more, some random person making unsubstantiated claims to a law enforcement officer doesn't come close to RAS, nor probable cause. That is call hearsay, gossip, and a waste of time. If a law enforcement officer uses that to initiate a detention, it's called a "violation of right under color of law", among other serious offenses.

    31. Re:Uh... by sootman · · Score: 1

      > No search is involved or permitted
      > solely based on an anonymous tip

      The first sentence of TFA and TFS says "The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that police can stop and search a driver based solely on an anonymous 911 tip." I haven't read the decision myself so I could be wrong, but that's what it says here.

      > an anonymous tip... falls under
      > the "reasonable suspicion" standard
      > for pulling someone over.

      Tell me your license plate number, the make, model, and color of your car, and the city and state you're currently in, and I'll arrange for a personal demonstration of why an anonymous call should not be considered reasonable suspicion.

      Do you really not see the countless ways this could be abused?

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    32. Re:Uh... by Le+Marteau · · Score: 1

      > The first sentence of TFA and TFS says "The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that police can stop and search a driver based solely on an anonymous 911 tip."

      Adorable.

      > I haven't read the decision myself

      Perhaps you should.

      > so I could be wrong,

      You are.

      > but that's what it says here.

      Adorable.

      Allow me. From the decision

      Syllabus

      A California Highway Patrol officer stopped the pickup truck occupied by petitioners because it matched the description of a vehicle that a 911 caller had recently reported as having run her off the road. As he and a second officer approached the truck, they smelled marijuana. They searched the truck's bed, found 30 pounds of marijuana, and arrested petitioners. Petitioners moved to suppress the evidence, arguing that the traffic stop violated the Fourth Amendment. Their motion was denied, and they pleaded guilty to transporting marijuana. The California Court of Appeal affirmed, concluding that the officer had reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigative stop.

      Held: The traffic stop complied with the Fourth Amendment because, under the totality of the circumstances, the officer had reasonable suspicion that the truck's driver was intoxicated. Pp. 3-11

      http://www2.bloomberglaw.com/p...

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      Mod down people who tell people how to mod in their sigs
    33. Re:Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The obvious problem is that government agents are ALSO citizens. If you authorise citizens to make such anonymous tips, then you implicitly authorise the government agents to falsify evidence. I don't think you really want to do that, do you?
      I am certainly NOT okay with the police acting on "anonymous" tips - I wish to face my accuser. And I stand on the side of the criminals here, an unpopular position to take, because I don't either them nor I to be arbitrarily subject to some bad cop's bad hair day.
      We MUST permit some guilty parties to go free, in order to prevent arbitrary innocent parties from false arrest.

    34. Re:Uh... by sootman · · Score: 1

      Then TFA and TFS are wrong -- COMPLETELY wrong -- when they say "police can stop and search a driver based solely [emphasis mine] on an anonymous 911 tip", since the decision clearly says "... under the totality of the circumstances..."

      My bad -- I missed the little 'decision' link below the summary. I looked for it in the NPR story and didn't see it. I'm honestly surprised that NPR got it exactly wrong.

      I have no problem with using info from a 911 call as a starting point, but relying solely on a call to initiate a search, even with "some features that allow for identifying and tracking callers", is no good.

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    35. Re:Uh... by Vitriol+Angst · · Score: 1

      No a lawyer, but I thought "probable cause" was that the original CAUSE for the police stop and search has to be legit. If you can't arrest the driver for "forcing someone off the road" then anything found after that wasn't supported by the search.

      Or maybe I'm living in a fantasy world. I'm just not too enthused to live in a country where the "right to imprison" supersedes the right to liberty. Pot shouldn't be against the law -- but it is, because of stupidity and it means we have to buy a lot of anti depressants to compensate.

      But really, society isn't breaking down because we don't have enough people in prison. A person should be a real menace to society in order to justify the government taking away their liberty. Prison is a sick, sad place. And I don't want to make this an easy process for the state.

      --
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    36. Re:Uh... by Vitriol+Angst · · Score: 1

      Many police officers are quite certain of their ability to determine guilt or innocence; usually in direct relation to how much the person in front of them is pissing them off.

      If it takes an "anonymous call" to make sure they get the bad guy they are 100% certain is bad -- then it's going to happen. There's already a drop bag and a drop gun for mistakes. Now there's going to be the burner phone.

      Is America falling apart because we don't have enough poor people in prison or enough bankers in prison?

      --
      >>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
    37. Re:Uh... by jittles · · Score: 1

      No a lawyer, but I thought "probable cause" was that the original CAUSE for the police stop and search has to be legit. If you can't arrest the driver for "forcing someone off the road" then anything found after that wasn't supported by the search.

      Or maybe I'm living in a fantasy world. I'm just not too enthused to live in a country where the "right to imprison" supersedes the right to liberty. Pot shouldn't be against the law -- but it is, because of stupidity and it means we have to buy a lot of anti depressants to compensate.

      But really, society isn't breaking down because we don't have enough people in prison. A person should be a real menace to society in order to justify the government taking away their liberty. Prison is a sick, sad place. And I don't want to make this an easy process for the state.

      The 4th amendment, as well as case law, expressly prohibits the police doing certain things during a Terry stop. They can only detain you briefly, but they only require reasonable suspicion that you committed a crime. The call from the citizen counts as reasonable suspicion. It was the smell of pot that gave the officer probable cause to search. I'm not a huge fan of the outcome - strictly because the tipster could have been a government agent acting on evidence that was obtained in violation of the 4th amendment. But I do think that the police should be able to Terry stop someone after receiving a complaint of illegal or dangerous activity.

  4. Does it also apply to homes? by EmagGeek · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If someone who doesn't like me makes an "anonymous" call to 911 to report that I'm running meth lab in my garage, does that also give the cops the right to ransack my house looking for a meth lab?

    It's sad that "probable cause" has been diluted to the point that it has.

    Hasn't this already been going on with "anonymous" tips from the DEA and DHS leading to traffic stops where "parallel construction" is used to fabricate grounds for probable cause after the fact? I guess this ruling removes the need to do the whole "parallel construction" thing?

    1. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      Sadly this is already happening, usually run by the b/tards. Besides just sending pizzas, they have sent in tips and had police raids in full swat show up at peoples houses just based on anon tips

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    2. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      If someone who doesn't like me makes an "anonymous" call to 911 to report that I'm running meth lab in my garage, does that also give the cops the right to ransack my house looking for a meth lab?

      While the short answer might be yes, the officers will know pretty quickly, without ransacking your house, that you don't have a meth lab. At that point, the not really anonymous caller will be arrested and charged with filing a false report. You will also have civil actions against the perp. Their life has for all practical purposes been destroyed, and the evidence is solid.

      Making false reports has been around forever. Using a modern phone to do that will document your crime, and will probably be the first piece of evidence

      It's sad that "probable cause" has been diluted to the point that it has.

      So what you are saying is that you do not think it should be legal to report drunk drivers? For Christ's sakes, this guy ran the woman off the road, was under the influence, and on slashdot - she is the bad guy. Now I want you to defend your statement. No one is anonymous on the phone, and your proposition that people shouldn't be allowed to call in crimes is only valid in slashdot world, where I swear half the posters need to stop watching the History2 channel for a few weeks.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    3. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by gnasher719 · · Score: 0

      If someone who doesn't like me makes an "anonymous" call to 911 to report that I'm running meth lab in my garage, does that also give the cops the right to ransack my house looking for a meth lab?

      A meth lab is quite big, so I don't think there is any justification for ransacking your house to find it. Just open every door and have a look into every room. And a call saying you're running a meth lab in your garage should clearly give them a warrant for the garage only.

    4. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by omnichad · · Score: 5, Insightful

      To equate it to something domestic, think of a noise complaint. The officer can come to your door and knock. If you answer and they see something inside, or they see something suspicous while they're there, they would still have to get a warrant. The difference in this case, is that they pulled someone over and smelled something. Pulling someone over does not require probable cause - only reasonable suspicion. The anonymous tip satisfies that just fine. The smell they found during the stop is the probable cause. And the car isn't quite so secure against search as a home. At least according to the courts.

    5. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If they're lucky, lives and/or property will be lost. This is the price you pay for "extra security, through fear and loss of freedoms".

    6. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 3, Interesting

      For Christ's sakes, this guy ran the woman off the road, was under the influence, and on slashdot - she is the bad guy.

      I gather that you have evidence that this woman was run off the road by this guy?

      Other than her 911 call, I mean.

      Did the police go to the site of the incident? Not that I've read anywhere.

      Did the police take her statement officially? Again, I've not seen anything hint that they de-anonymized (is that a word? If not, it should be) her by actually talking to her or anything.

      From all I've read, she called 911, reported something that got the police to hunting for the vehicle (which they found 18 miles from the purported incident), the police checked him for drunken driving, found he wasn't, then searched his car for drugs, found he was carrying a lot of weed.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    7. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      In order to search only the garage, they will need to "secure" the rest of the house and it's occupants. They will also need to kill any dogs present on the property. All damage done to the door when they kicked in and the window where they thrown tear-gas thought will be your expanse. You will also require a good health insurance for any wound and physiological traumas your family and children may had during this routine police work done to ensure your own safety and the safety of your neighbourhood. I am sure you'll understand because you are obviously a true patriot. Have a nice day.

    8. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

      No, just based on this decision.

      However, it will happen, prosecutors will point to this as justification, and defense will claim the decision is too narrow to support that.

      And there are other laws and case law and local things to worry about.

      As always, consult a lawyer before flying off the handle on a slippery slope argument.

    9. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Himmy32 · · Score: 1

      From what it sounds like it would be enough to knock on your door and ask to speak with you.

      This is a ruling on the extent of "reasonable suspicion" not on "probable cause".

      From Wikipedia:

      Reasonable suspicion is a legal standard of proof in United States law that is less than probable cause, the legal standard for arrests and warrants, but more than an "inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or 'hunch'";[1] it must be based on "specific and articulable facts", "taken together with rational inferences from those facts".[2] If police additionally have reasonable suspicion that a person so detained is armed and dangerous, they may "frisk" the person for weapons, but not for contraband like drugs

      In Terry v. Ohio, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a person can be stopped and briefly detained by a police officer based on a reasonable suspicion of involvement in a punishable crime. If the officer has reasonable suspicion, the officer may perform a search of the person's outer garments for weapons. Such a detention does not violate the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizure, though it must be brief. Reasonable suspicion does not provide grounds for arrest; however, an arrest can be made if facts discovered during the detention provide probable cause that the suspect has committed a crime.

      In Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada the Court further established that a state may require, by law, that a person identify himself or herself to an officer during a stop; some states (e.g., Colorado[4]) require that a person detained provide additional information, but as of November 2010, the validity of such additional obligations has not come before the Supreme Court.

    10. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by 0xdeadbeef · · Score: 1

      If someone who doesn't like me makes an "anonymous" call to 911 to report that I'm running meth lab in my garage, does that also give the cops the right to ransack my house looking for a meth lab?

      Yes, if subsequent investigation leads them to believe you're running a meth lab, they'll get a warrant and ransack your meth lab.

      Why the fuck are people acting like anonymous tips are a new thing? Do you actually believe they act on every tip and do so blindly? Does this magic 911 phone technology make it all too scary for you?

    11. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's sad that "probable cause" has been diluted to the point that it has.

      So what you are saying is that you do not think it should be legal to report drunk drivers?

      So what you are saying is that you do not really know how to read very well?

    12. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by koreanbabykilla · · Score: 2

      A meth lab doesn't have to be large. Back when my hobby was homemade pharmaceuticals, I had a nano lab that fit in a couple shoeboxes. Couldn't make much at once, but not too hard to hide it. Just enough precursors and glass to make one batch could easily fit in a single shoe box. (on a very small scale, you can just put a balloon on a test tube, no need for a huge reflux.) Use hypophos instead of red phos, and you don't even need to keep it anhydrous which further reduces equipment. lock me in a wal mart overnight and im 100% sure I can make some meth just out of shit in there.

    13. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If someone who doesn't like me makes an "anonymous" call to 911 to report that I'm running meth lab in my garage, does that also give the cops the right to ransack my house looking for a meth lab?

      This has been common practice since the 80s.

    14. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While the short answer might be yes, the officers will know pretty quickly, without ransacking your house, that you don't have a meth lab.

      That won't stop them from ransacking the house, however.

      At that point, the not really anonymous caller will be arrested and charged with filing a false report.

      1) If the call is made from a payphone, who are they going to arrest??
      2) If the caller is careful what they say, and phrases things right, they can get away with it, even if identified. If they say "I saw him carrying a gun", and you have no gun, they might get in trouble ("Might", because they could still be telling the truth- the fact you had no gun when the cops arrived doesn't mean you didn't have one earlier). But if they say "I saw what might have been a gun", well, that protects them from any 'false report'. Cops themselves have mistaken things like keys, wallets, and candy bars for guns. And you certainly can't hold an un-trained civilian to a higher standard than the cops....

      You will also have civil actions against the perp.

      Only if they don't call from a payphone, AND make provably false claims.

    15. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by QuantumPion · · Score: 1

      Yup, and if you're lucky, the cops will only kill your dog and won't shoot you dead in your bed for waking up startled in the middle of the night upon hearing your door being busted in on a no-knock warrant based on an anonymous tip. And if your family is lucky the police won't lie about it to cover it up by planing a guns/drugs after the fact.

    16. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      For Christ's sakes, this guy ran the woman off the road, was under the influence, and on slashdot - she is the bad guy.

      I gather that you have evidence that this woman was run off the road by this guy?

      Then I demand you produce the evidence that she wasn't. This is silly to demand that I produce evidence, so let's not go down that road.

      Perhaps he didn't run her off, but now you have to produce some sort of sane argumemnt that a stoned guy was randomly selected by a lying woman just to screw with him.

      Other than her 911 call, I mean.

      You do know that making a false report on 911 is a crime, don't you?

      Did the police go to the site of the incident? Not that I've read anywhere.

      Specious, and you would need the transcript of the trial to answer that question. The story isn't about where they went, and isn't even relevant to the thrust of the story, which is if people are allowed to call 911 to report crime. The perp's layer is arguing that since the tip came from an anonymous source, it was invalid. Since it was not anonymous The argument's main premise was not valid.

      Did the police take her statement officially? Again, I've not seen anything hint that they de-anonymized (is that a word? If not, it should be) her by actually talking to her or anything.

      911 calls are recorded and used as evidence all the time. When reporting a crime, the 911 center does not make the person swear on a bible that they are telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But they are still used as evidence.

      As for her continued anonymity, they could certainly retrieve that information, and use voiceprints to confirm that it was indeed her making the phone call. Did they? I dunno, you'd need the transcripts of the trial.

      From all I've read, she called 911, reported something that got the police to hunting for the vehicle (which they found 18 miles from the purported incident), the police checked him for drunken driving, found he wasn't, then searched his car for drugs, found he was carrying a lot of weed.

      You missed the part about smelling the whacky tabaccy in the vehicle. Maybe the dude wasn't stoned. Maybe he was.

      So what you have is a pseudo anonymous tip from a person who was allegedly run off the road, and the tip led to a allegedly stoned guy with a lot of weed. There is a good bit of credibility here, and a remarkable set of circumstances would have to be in play for it not to be credible - see below. The only thing missing was cameras on her car. It is surprising that more people do not have cameras on their cars today.

      Otherwise, the perp's lawyer wouldn't be trying to use the specious cloak of anonymity card. Real reasons to think there was some hanky panky going on would be if the defense had knowledge of the caller, (which would be unforgivably incompetent if they didn't attempt to access that) and she knew the perp, and had some reason why she would make a fraudulent and illegal call to 911. Revenge, hatred, prank gone bad, nasty divorce, that kind of stuff. Now you are looking at a probably successful appeal process. They were just down to desperation moves.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    17. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      So what you are saying is that you do not think it should be legal to report drunk drivers?

      So what you are saying is that you do not really know how to read very well?

      Dude was stoned (allegedly) Exchange the ganja bake for Ethanol fueled intoxication, and tell me the difference.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    18. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      While the short answer might be yes, the officers will know pretty quickly, without ransacking your house, that you don't have a meth lab.

      That won't stop them from ransacking the house, however.

      1) If

      2) If

      Only if

      Here's a big if for you. If the Police and the Government are so evil as you say, and lusting mightily to just put someone in jail so that the prision industrial complex can make more profit, and in their gleeful zeal to trample all over citizen's civil rights, you can bet your bottom dollar that somdeone will be arrested, have all appeals quashed, and they'll go to jail too. Letting silly things like pay phones (so many of them any more) get in the way of total dominion and godly profit? Fuggidaboudit!

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    19. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by gnasher719 · · Score: 1

      As for her continued anonymity, they could certainly retrieve that information, and use voiceprints to confirm that it was indeed her making the phone call. Did they? I dunno, you'd need the transcripts of the trial.

      Whether she said the truth or not would only be relevant if (a) the police tried to convict the driver for running her off the road or (b) the police tried to convict her for making a false accusation of a crime. It is _not_ relevant to whether the police should have stopped the car or not. What would be relevant to _this_ case is whether her accusation was believable or not.

    20. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If someone who doesn't like me makes an "anonymous" call to 911 to report that I'm running meth lab in my garage, does that also give the cops the right to ransack my house looking for a meth lab?

      It's sad that "probable cause" has been diluted to the point that it has.

      Hasn't this already been going on with "anonymous" tips from the DEA and DHS leading to traffic stops where "parallel construction" is used to fabricate grounds for probable cause after the fact? I guess this ruling removes the need to do the whole "parallel construction" thing?

      You mean a no-knock warrant where they shoot your grandmother?

      No. They need to pay a convicted felon to accuse you of selling drugs to obtain that right.

    21. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Yakasha · · Score: 1

      To equate it to something domestic

      Pulling someone over does not require probable cause - only reasonable suspicion. The anonymous tip satisfies that just fine.

      To equate it to something else domestic, "only" reasonable suspicion is required to conduct a full body cavity search at the border.

      An anonymous phone call can get a TSA hand up your ass. Enjoy.

    22. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Yup, and if you're lucky, the cops will only kill your dog and won't shoot you dead in your bed for waking up startled in the middle of the night upon hearing your door being busted in on a no-knock warrant based on an anonymous tip. And if your family is lucky the police won't lie about it to cover it up by planing a guns/drugs after the fact.

      Such things certainly aren't good. Owned houses have been demolished by mistake when it was supposed to be the house in forclosure next door. Police have gotten things wrong - and in your example of anonymous tips, they can come from regular non-anonymouse tips.

      I get just as angry as you do when that happens, and believe in full accountability, and criminal prosecutions and jail time if warranted.

      But we don't even seem to have a normal false dichotomy here. What are the options if you know a crime is being committed? 911 lines are anything but anonymous. They know who is calling, and even if you're using a burner, they know where you are calling from.

      I can't imagine anyone not knowg this, so I guess that people are arguing for the elimination of any sort of tips.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    23. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Whether she said the truth or not would only be relevant if (a) the police tried to convict the driver for running her off the road or (b) the police tried to convict her for making a false accusation of a crime. It is _not_ relevant to whether the police should have stopped the car or not. What would be relevant to _this_ case is whether her accusation was believable or not.

      In many states, 911 calls are encouraged to report drunk drivers. This may or may not be what prompted her to call. As events unfolded, it would be a completely plausible reason.

      As for the veracity of her call, if she thought th deriver was impaired, and called, and the officers found that the guy was apparently baked, everything else would have followed. Herveracity would have been proven. I don't know about the rest of everyone, but when anyone gets a call from me, they see my number, and my name. Probably the same for most people who don't take measures to block that information.

      No one wants turned into the police maliciously. This isn't even close to that, so IMO, this is more about the legality of tipping the police off to a bad situation than privacy or some due process violation.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    24. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To equate it to something domestic, think of a noise complaint. The officer can come to your door and knock. If you answer and they see something inside, or they see something suspicous while they're there, they would still have to get a warrant. The difference in this case, is that they pulled someone over and smelled something. Pulling someone over does not require probable cause - only reasonable suspicion. The anonymous tip satisfies that just fine.

      The issue is, they trailed the vehicle for 5 minutes and saw no signs of poor driving. Thus, there was absolutely no evidence to support their pulling the driver over, except the anonymous call.

      To use your example: it's like the cops receive an anonymous noise complaint about your house, but when they get there and sit in the driveway for a few minutes, there is absolutely no noise coming from your house. With no evidence that they can see of any noise, are they still justified in knocking on your door, all due to an anonymous complaint?

      One side says 'yes- they had a complaint, so they have the right to knock.'

      The other side says 'an anonymous complaint is unverifiable- it could be a prank (kids), malicious mischief (ex-wife), or the cops giving themselves an excuse. Thus, without further actual evidence, they should not be able to knock. They can, however, try to gather further evidence (ie: sit in the driveway, listening to see if there actually is noise, or trail a suspected drunk driver to see if they are driving badly).'

      I find the latter to make more sense.

    25. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      border...domestic... I sense a disconnect here.

    26. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stand your ground, and tell the police you REQUIRE them to obtain a warrant issued by a judge, where they are required to provide oath or affirmation of the items to be searched and the items to be seized, and the copy could do that by phone, in less time than he could get his uniform on.

      If police try to force it, you are within your rights to arrest the police. Having the technical and physical ability to do so is another issue.

    27. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Yakasha · · Score: 1

      border...domestic... I sense a disconnect here.

      Then you're assuming there is only 1 side to a border.

    28. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by hoeferbe · · Score: 1
      Ol Olsoc wrote:

      Then I demand you produce the evidence that she wasn't. This is silly to demand that I produce evidence,

      There use to be this ideal of "innocent until proven guilty". What makes you trust this woman so much? The NPR article didn't state why she was anonymous. (I assume she said she didn't want to give her name, as I believe 911 operators normally ask.) You don't find it odd that this woman -- who has supposedly been wronged by the truck driver -- wanted to remain anonymous? Why remain anonymous when she could be helping to put a drunk or dangerous driver behind bars?

      Perhaps he didn't run her off, but now you have to produce some sort of sane argumemnt that a stoned guy was randomly selected by a lying woman just to screw with him.

      The article didn't state the truck driver was stoned. How do you know that?

      Why do you assume this was random? It could have been an ex-girlfriend wanting to screw over the guy. It could have been a woman from another drug gang wanting to mess with this guy's business. It could have been a female Federal agent wanting to create a parallel construction of evidence.

      You do know that making a false report on 911 is a crime, don't you?

      Why does that matter to crazy ex-girlfriends, female drug gang members and corrupt female Federal agents (or the other examples one could come up with)?

      The story isn't about where they went, and isn't even relevant to the thrust of the story, which is if people are allowed to call 911 to report crime. The perp's layer is arguing that since the tip came from an anonymous source, it was invalid.

      Of course people are allowed to call 911 to report a crime, but one needs to make sure that reporting is not abused by either the callers or law enforcement. (I.e. the "parallel construction of evidence" mentioned above.) And one needs to make sure constitutional rights (the right to face one's accuser, for one) are protected.

      An anonymous call, by itself, warrants just the smallest of investigations -- in this case, the law enforcement official followed the vehicle and did not see any evidence of wrong doing. That should have been the end of it. The woman apparently did not want to press charges or even testify since it is assumed she refused to give her name.

      The original poster was pointing out the very relevant fact that there was no other evidence to support the allegation that this man ran this woman off the road: no erratic driving, no witness that can be cross-examined, no highway reports of damage where the car was forced off the road, etc. the police would have been totally justified in stopping this man if they did witness erratic driving, or the woman did give her name to be a witness or if there was some other evidence to support the allegation.

      911 calls are recorded and used as evidence all the time. When reporting a crime, the 911 center does not make the person swear on a bible that they are telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But they are still used as evidence.

      I've only heard of them being used as evidence when the caller is identified, but I could be wrong on that. I suspect in this case, however, you'd need to have the caller identified since if the run-off-the-road case was taken to trial, the defendant has a right to cross-examine witnesses.

      As for her continued anonymity, they could certainly retrieve that information, and use voiceprints to confirm that it was indeed her making the phone call. Did they? I dunno, you'd need the transcripts of the trial.

      This may be the poor repo

    29. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      No, I'm assuming that your only need to be at a border is international travel. And that's a very specific exception that's been interpreted from the fourth amendment. A warrant is only one way to establish reasonableness. At the border, it's been reasoned to be not unreasonable.

    30. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're forgetting that other gem of an interpretation that set border-width to 100 miles.

    31. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Yakasha · · Score: 1

      No, I'm assuming that your only need to be at a border is international travel. And that's a very specific exception that's been interpreted from the fourth amendment. A warrant is only one way to establish reasonableness. At the border, it's been reasoned to be not unreasonable.

      The border is everything within 100 miles of the actual border, or any other reasonable entry/exit point, such as an international airport.

      DHS jurisdiction includes anybody attempting to cross the border in either direction.

      An anonymous 9-1-1 call while you're within 100 miles of any border is all that is needed to have reasonable suspicion that you are attempting to cross the border with something illegal stuffed up your crack, providing legal justification for a body cavity search & seizing any property you have for further analysis.

    32. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Making false reports has been around forever. Using a modern phone to do that will document your crime, and will probably be the first piece of evidence

      I still have a cell phone that I found a couple of years ago. When I found it, my original plan was to return it to the owner by answering a call from the owner or leaving feedback on its voicemail. One thing led to another as I moved on with my life only to realize a few months later that I still had it. While the service has long since been disconnected by the original owner, it is required by law to always work when I use 9-1-1.

      I can't be the only one to have had this happen. Am I the only one?

      However, this has been an enlightening post giving me some interesting thoughts. There are few people out there (some in a position of authority) deserving of a life changing payback. After planting something illegal, a strategically placed well timed soft phone call would be the way to go. An immediate poorly thought out example would be to say something about an asshole brandishing a well described scary gun they're legally allowed to have due to proper registration--you know to confirm the validity of the call--which in turns allows them to do a search that would result in finding the good stuff.

      Do you think you know who you are? If you do, be afraid; be very afraid. MhuaHahahaHAHahaha! I now have the power to turn America into an evil shithole!

    33. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Anybody can come to my door and knock, at pretty much any time. A police officer could without any suspicion of me at all, or a neighbor, or a total stranger. Only police can pull me over; a Jehovah's Witness has no right to pull me over to give me a religious tract. There is, in my opinion, a difference here.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    34. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by vux984 · · Score: 1

      There use to be this ideal of "innocent until proven guilty". What makes you trust this woman so much?

      The woman's word didn't convict them. It amounted to reasonable suspicion to pull a vehicle over, that's it. Your ignoring a big chain of events.

      It could have been a female Federal agent wanting to create a parallel construction of evidence.

      Its conceivable. Do you have any evidence for this beyond a mere statement of the possibility that it might be the case?

      An anonymous call, by itself, warrants just the smallest of investigations -- in this case, the law enforcement official followed the vehicle and did not see any evidence of wrong doing. That should have been the end of it.

      Because pulling the driver over and asking if he was drunk is an "exceptionally deep investigation"?

      The woman apparently did not want to press charges

      Press charges for WHAT?

      or even testify since it is assumed she refused to give her name.

      Not wanting to get involved is pretty normal. If I saw a drunk I wouldn't want to get dragged into court, have my character, recollections, and life torn apart by cross examination, my time wasted etc. And if the police catch up to him because of my tip, and notice he's drunk then they can take care of him without my help.

      I suspect in this case, however, you'd need to have the caller identified since if the run-off-the-road case was taken to trial, the defendant has a right to cross-examine witnesses.

      Only if he was charged with running the other driver off the road. If he's to be charged with drunk driving, the fact that he's impaired when pulled over is more than sufficient.

      I do think they overstepped what was appropriate for the situation.

      Pulling him over to see if he's drunk is inappropriate after a report he was driving badly. FWIW Drunk drivers rarely drive erratically. Their reactions and awareness is impaired; so unless something unexpected happens they'll probably appear to be driving just fine.

    35. Re:Does it also apply to homes? by william.meaney1 · · Score: 1

      Actually if the police knock on your door and you open it, and in plain sight there is a bag of pot or some other visible sign of illegal activity, they can walk in THERE AND THEN to search your house...As long as they're standing somewhere they're legally allowed to stand. If they actually come into your front door and look in your house before they see something, that's illegal. If they can see it from the doorstep though...That's perfectly legal. So far as this subject...I'm personally all for it. There's drug deals all the time on the street I live on...Middle class, nice neighborhood, but one kid lives with his grandparents and is constantly meeting people that drive him around, and drop him off a few minutes later. Never long enough to call the local PD and get a patrol car there in time. It's not like I can call the cops and say "oh, they ran someone over" or "hey they ran a red light"...They can't just pull them over and take my word for it that they commited a crime that cannot be proven. I can, however, say they just met with a known drug dealer, and drove around for a few minutes. That will allow the police to catch the car as it comes out of the neighborhood, and search the car.

  5. Of course they're okay with anonymous tips by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That way they don't need to pay out the fink money.

  6. Empirical by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 1

    The empirical evidence in this case is that the tip was indeed reliable.

    In some state odor of marijuana is in itself enough to justify a search.

    1. Re:Empirical by myth24601 · · Score: 1

      Odor of pot? Heck, all they have to do is claim they smell alcohol (weather they do or not) and they have the go ahead to harass you for as long as they want.

      --
      No matter where you go, there you are.
    2. Re:Empirical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The empirical evidence in this case is that the tip was indeed reliable.

      In some state odor of marijuana is in itself enough to justify a search.

      Anthony "The state can do no wrong" Scalia wrote the dissent. The car was tailed for 5 minutes by the police with the driver performing impeccably.
      It's essentially the end of the 4th amendment.

    3. Re:Empirical by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

      You should know better, shame on you. This is not how you decide anything in a civilised society. If they could smell marijuana while tailing the car, we would be talking about genetic mutations, not supreme decisions.

    4. Re:Empirical by operagost · · Score: 1

      In New Jersey, an acquaintance lost her driver's license because, after passing multiple breathalyzer tests in front of two cops, she refused to allow them to take her back to the station to be tested there. Being brought back to the station in a police car is de facto arrest, but somehow the judge didn't think this mattered and was perfectly happy to cause a mother who wasn't driving drunk and had a clean record to lose her license and her job.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    5. Re:Empirical by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      The tip was not reliable. They found no evidence of erratic driving behavior, which points towards this actually being parallel construction. They had illegal evidence, and needed to craft a legal justification for a search.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    6. Re:Empirical by Bryan+Ischo · · Score: 1

      Whenever I read accounts like this, I always, ALWAYS assume that there is much more to the story than the clean and simple explanation given. Obviously there is much more to this story than you are telling, because there are so many incongruous aspects to it (not the least of which is, how could the judge's decision possibly have stood on appeal if your acquaintance was so clearly wronged here?).

    7. Re:Empirical by Bryan+Ischo · · Score: 2

      I've read lots of your comments here, and you keep beating the same drum.

      The police are allowed to pull someone over on an anonymous tip. They didn't even have to trail the person for 15 minutes to try to find other evidence of impairment. Just because they did that does not mean that they are no longer allowed to pull them over.

      Just in the same way that pulling them over and then asking, "Are you impaired?" and getting a "no" answer does not mean that they are not allowed to ask further questions.

      The search was conducted because of the smell of marijuana, which neither you nor I nor anyone else can prove was present, so continuing to question it is just pointless for the purposes of this discussion. However, there is the indisputable fact that marijuana *was* present, 30 freaking pounds of it, so I don't know how anyone could suggest that it was more likely that the cops made up the fact that they smelled it, than that they actually smelled it.

    8. Re:Empirical by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      Whenever I read accounts like this, I always, ALWAYS assume that there is much more to the story than the clean and simple explanation given. Obviously there is much more to this story than you are telling, because there are so many incongruous aspects to it (not the least of which is, how could the judge's decision possibly have stood on appeal if your acquaintance was so clearly wronged here?).

      Not that I necessarily disagree with the likelihood that there's more to this story than we're being told, but most of the single mothers I've known throughout my life don't have the financial resources to hire a lawyer for the initial charge, let alone be able to afford an expensive appeal. Hell, most people I know.

      "Justice" is expensive.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    9. Re:Empirical by BiIl_the_Engineer · · Score: 1

      Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight, because authority figures never do anything wrong. Like the NSA's mass surveillance, the TSA, free speech zones, unfettered border searches...

      You don't actually think we have a functional justice system, do you? In some cases, it shows itself to be outright fucking broken, like the "Witch Hunt" documentary shows.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
    10. Re:Empirical by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      I don't know whether or not they smelled it, but I do have doubts, and I have personally experienced a cop adamantly claiming that he smelled marijuana in a vehicle that has never, to my knowledge, had any marijuana in it. My bigger point is doubting the credibility of this supposedly anonymous tip. The level of detail she had seems highly suspect, and there's no indication that he was actually impaired or driving erratically. I know that if I had 30 lbs of weed in my car, I would attempt to be an especially careful and courteous driver. So, it seems very likely to me that this anonymous tip didn't come from someone truly anonymous, but someone acting on the behalf of a three letter agency. We know that they do things like this, and it seems to have too much dumb luck involved to consider that the more likely sequence of events was some random woman being run off the road.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    11. Re:Empirical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've had new car smell confused for marijuana

    12. Re:Empirical by Bryan+Ischo · · Score: 1

      But when the cop says they smelled marijuana, and conduct a search, and there is no marijuana present, would a suspect's complaint to the police department that illegal searches are being conducted on the pretense of fabricated evidence have any standing?

      It is my assumption that they would, which is why I don't see the problem; the cops have to be honest about what they believe they smell or else they can be held accountable. They can't fake these things too often or else the pattern becomes clear.

      However, if there is in fact no way in which faking such evidence can come back to bite the cop, then I agree there is a problem, since they can just make stuff up without consequence.

      I personally don't know which is true, having very little direct experience with law enforcement.

    13. Re:Empirical by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      It would probably depend upon the police department. However, I would say that,in general, you probably aren't going to get much of a reaction. It's easy to come up with a dozen excuses that are just credible enough to end further inquiries. Also, this technique tends to be used in conjunction with profiling, so they are likely getting results, and the parties being illegally searched are going to generally be parties that are less sympathetic. If cops 'smell weed,' it's likely because you look like you smell like weed. Also, innocent people are often more concerned with getting the search over with than seeking justice. They were in a car, so they probably had a destination, and intended to get there in the near future. I know I consented to a search because I was tired and only a few miles from home, and getting to sleep was a higher priority than protecting my rights and getting the information to file a complaint against him.. The officer had a gleam in his eyes when he found a plastic sandwich bag in my trunk, followed by immediate disappointment when he realized that it only had bread crumbs in it from a previous lunch I had brought in my car.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  7. 4 of 9 agreed with him by flyingfsck · · Score: 5, Funny

    but we all agree that Seven of Nine is the most gorgeous...

    --
    Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
  8. Do you see the problem with this? by hochl · · Score: 2

    This way they can just call themselves anonymously and then search any car/house they like without violating any law.

    1. Re:Do you see the problem with this? by Imagix · · Score: 0

      You're missing a bunch of parts, and the headline of this article is similarly misguided (the original title is not). The 911 call did nothing regarding the _search_. What the 911 call did was focus the attention of the police on a vehicle that was allegedly driving dangerously. They then pulled over the vehicle that was allegedly driving dangerously under the suspicion that the driver was impaired (remember, driving impaired is illegal). During that interaction they discovered further indications that drugs were involved and based on _that_ evidence a search of the vehicle was conducted. Where the dispute comes from is whether the police had sufficient suspicion about the original "driving while impaired" problem (and thus sufficient cause to pull the vehicle over). They'd apparently followed the vehicle for "5 minutes" and didn't see any indication of poor driving. _That's_ where the dissenting court opinion comes from, not about the search. (I've made that 911 call myself. And in one case, I'd actually saw the vehicle that I was reporting clip someone else and tore the mirror off of their car. They'd pulled over, but I bet he was rather surprised as how fast a police cruiser arrived on the scene....)

    2. Re:Do you see the problem with this? by king+neckbeard · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The problem is that we know that this case seems likely to be one of parallel construction. There's a good chance this 'anonymous woman' worked for a three letter agency and had obtained unlawful evidence. Since that wouldn't be admissible in court, she called the local police, said that someone "forced her off the road *wink wink nudge nudge*", and she was able to present an unusual amount of detailed information for someone who was just run off the road.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    3. Re:Do you see the problem with this? by itsenrique · · Score: 1

      THANK YOU! The issue is not this woman's case, but the precedent allowing anonymous tips would allow. As an aside: Why was the woman so worried about being anonymous? She was run off the road. She didn't witness a murder.

    4. Re:Do you see the problem with this? by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      So, how to explain the "we followed the vehicle for five minutes, and saw no signs of impaired driving"?

      Other than the tip, they had NO evidence that the driver was impaired, and they never even bothered to check that the "he ran me off the road" actually happened (which would have generated a police report, including the identifying information on the tipster).

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    5. Re:Do you see the problem with this? by Imagix · · Score: 1

      I made no comment on the validity of the case itself (and had also mentioned the 5 minute thing). What I'm pointing out is that this article is inaccurate in it's headline ("Stop and _Search_ Based On Anonymous 911 Tips"), and many of the comments are making the same leap. The facts of the case didn't link the anonymous tip to the search. The facts of the case linked the anonymous tip to the _stop_. It was evidence gathered during the stop that lead to the search. The dissenting opinions were around whether the police had sufficient cause to stop the person in the first place since without the stop, the police wouldn't have had the additional evidence to provide cause for a search. So, much of the outrage here is misdirected. It should all be directed at whether or not the police had sufficient cause to stop the car. What we should be seeing is arguments along the lines of: "The police received an anonymous tip. Based on that they located the car and observed its behaviour over 5 minutes." Followed by either "Having seeing no signs of impaired driving we stopped observing the car and went on our way", or "We then pulled the vehicle over in order to have a discussion with the driver that a concerned citizen had observed the car behaving erratically, was there something wrong?" (Which then leads to the discovery of the other evidence)

    6. Re:Do you see the problem with this? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Not quite. In this case, the police used an anonymous tip to pull a car over, and then smelled marijuana, justifying a search (granted, they could have lied about the smell). There are stronger legal protections for a home. It's still all too easy to get a search warrant for a home, in my opinion, but they need more than an anonymous tip.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  9. I am shocked. *Shocked* by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    I am dumbfounded and speechless. I am finding myself agreeing with Clarence "who put *that* on my coke can" Thomas! And shockingly Thomas is disagreeing with Scalia!. Who knows! Justice Thomas might actually summon up enough courage and mental faculties to frame a cogent question in the next hearing. Or the world could be coming to an end.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:I am shocked. *Shocked* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thomas doesn't need to ask questions, his lobbyist wife knows all the answers that matter...

    2. Re:I am shocked. *Shocked* by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      Justice Thomas might actually summon up enough courage and mental faculties to frame a cogent question in the next hearing.

      Or maybe he'll continue believing it's the lawyers' job to provide the evidence, not the judges', and that just listening to their arguments is sufficient.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    3. Re:I am shocked. *Shocked* by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

      He at least used to pretend to listen to the arguments. Now a days he has even stopped pretending. Pretty soon he will start snoring from the bench.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  10. Free warrant! by netsavior · · Score: 3, Insightful

    1) Police officer sees car he wants to search
    2) Police officer calls 911 placing an anon tip
    3) Police officer gets to do whatever the hell he wants.

    historically, authority figures getting to do whatever the hell they want has worked out pretty well.

    1. Re:Free warrant! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      An interesting conundrum. But surely our sage legal system has taken this into account. Obviously if an anonymous call "has some features that allow for identifying and tracking callers" then this information will be provided during the court case as the accused has the right to challenge his accusers. Surely.

    2. Re:Free warrant! by mark-t · · Score: 1

      What measures did said officer take to avoid being fined for a fraudulent 911 emergency call? 911 calls are traced, you know... practically instantaneously, in fact.

    3. Re:Free warrant! by fey000 · · Score: 3, Informative

      1) Police officer sees car he wants to search

      2) Police officer calls 911 placing an anon tip

      3) Police officer gets to do whatever the hell he wants.

      historically, authority figures getting to do whatever the hell they want has worked out pretty well.

      Jesus tapdancing Christ, this has been refuted three times now. The tip did not warrant the search, the tip only warranted pulling the driver over. The marijuana smell warranted the search, something that was not introduced by this ruling. As for #2, did you even read the digest? The ruling only accounts for when anonymity does not hold.

      Get the tinfoil hat out of your eyes and read TFA please.

    4. Re:Free warrant! by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      What measures did said officer take to avoid being fined for a fraudulent 911 emergency call?

      The police would have to investigate the call before there were any consequenses for a false 911 report. Why would they do that?

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    5. Re:Free warrant! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      1) Police officer sees car he wants to search

      2) Police officer calls 911 placing an anon tip

      3) Police officer gets to do whatever the hell he wants.

      historically, authority figures getting to do whatever the hell they want has worked out pretty well.

      Jesus tapdancing Christ, this has been refuted three times now. The tip did not warrant the search, the tip only warranted pulling the driver over. The marijuana smell warranted the search, something that was not introduced by this ruling. As for #2, did you even read the digest? The ruling only accounts for when anonymity does not hold.

      Get the tinfoil hat out of your eyes and read TFA please.

      Did you read the digest? It said that 911 calls have "some features that allow for identifying and tracking callers'" thus making it more reliable than 'anonymous'. The judges are just technically foolish. The GP's scenario works perfectly fine. It's just that according to the judges, by virtue of calling 911, the caller is not anonymous. This is apparently legally true (i.e. because Supreme Court) even if a pay phone or burner phone was used and there is no actual way of figuring who made the call. Yes, it is completely ripe for abuse and will be.

    6. Re:Free warrant! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah.. Never heard of cops taking the refusal to allow a search as being probable cause in and of itself? Once they've got you stopped, they're gonna search you - no ifs or buts.

    7. Re:Free warrant! by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      In this specific case yes. Netsavior was likely more concerned about how this would play out in the future than the specific pot-influenced driver in question. Me too: this driver can go to hell for all I care. It's the precedent I care about.

    8. Re:Free warrant! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, ummm, in your example you are OK with (cop|ex|anybody) claims is enough to pull someone over? IMO, it isn't. It should clue the cops in on something is going on, but they should DIRECTLY observe before they take action.

      A fun example of too much power and going headstrong into a situation is "SWATTING" Though Swatting is different/radical and a lot more "must take action now"... but you can surely see where this will head. The bottom line is, cops already have too much power. Way more than necessary to "do their job".

      Can you reply to this with more information about your car and where you drive to/from? ;) (e.g. put your money where your mouth is...)

    9. Re:Free warrant! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      use a payphone, genius.

    10. Re:Free warrant! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jesus tapdancing Christ, this has been refuted three times now. The tip did not warrant the search, the tip only warranted pulling the driver over. The marijuana smell warranted the search

      And they were only able to 'smell' it BECAUSE they pulled him over. Which they only did BECAUSE of the tip.

      Put 2 and 2 together, man!

    11. Re:Free warrant! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      people have been pulled over and their cars (and occupants) searched, without cause or warrant, for years.

      this case changes nothing in that regard, but now allows the general public to play the home version of the game.

    12. Re:Free warrant! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem is that the stop wasn't warranted either...until they did yet another ruling thoroughly outside the Authority given them by the Constitution, as indicated by the dissenting opinion.

      Like the GP poster said...cop calls in anon tip...gets to stop someone in a manner outside of the restrictions set aside for a Terry Stop. Quite honestly, the Supreme Court needs a hard reset just as bad as the rest of the *ssholes in DC because this isn't consistent with the intent and meaning of the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Just because they said something doesn't make it legit...unless it's allowed for per their Authority.

    13. Re:Free warrant! by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      Or a paygo phone. If there's no GPS tracker in his squad car, he doesn't even have to get off the road to do it.

    14. Re:Free warrant! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What measures did said officer take to avoid being fined for a fraudulent 911 emergency call? 911 calls are traced, you know... practically instantaneously, in fact.

      The fact that he is a police officer is all he needs. Haven't you ever heard of the blue wall of silence? The only way to accuse police is to have video uploaded to youtube that is egregious enough to interest a national "investigative" news agency. And even then the officer often only gets a week or two of suspension with pay rather than the ten years in prison he deserves.

    15. Re:Free warrant! by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Perhaps you were unaware that the police do not even need any reason to suspect that a particular driver might be impaired to require the driver to pull over and ask if they have been drinking when the police are conducting any kind of impaired driving investigation. An actual allegation of impairment, whether it was true or not, gives them more than enough just cause to track down the vehicle and briefly interrogate the driver.

    16. Re:Free warrant! by mark-t · · Score: 1

      And they were only able to 'smell' it BECAUSE they pulled him over. Which they only did BECAUSE of the tip

      Which they are legally allowed to do.... when conducting any kind of impaired driving investigation (which is what the police were technically doing), they do not require any reason at all to suspect that any particular driver has been drinking to have just cause to expect them to pull over and ask the driver if they have had anything to drink that evening, and if so, how much. That they received an allegation that a particular driver was impaired gave them more than enough cause to track down the vehicle and briefly question the driver. His rights were not infringed. Police checkstops, which largely exist as preventative measure, and are most common during holidays or celebratory special events, would not be legal otherwise.

  11. MOD PARENT DOWN!!!!!1!!1111 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    I'm fifteen, I'm an average Slashdotter with a huge sense of entitlement, and the parent post makes me angry! Mod down!!!!111!!!11

    1. Re:MOD PARENT DOWN!!!!!1!!1111 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      -1 inciteful for the teenage parent.

  12. DUI checkpoints by schneidafunk · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just to play devil's advocate, how is this more invasive than DUI checkpoints?

    --
    Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
    1. Re:DUI checkpoints by Entropius · · Score: 2

      DUI checkpoints don't get to search your car. (But they are also a bad idea...)

    2. Re:DUI checkpoints by Rhymoid · · Score: 1

      The problem isn't how invasive it is, but how arbitrary it is. DUI checkpoints aren't as arbitrary as the 'legal' tool described in TFA.

    3. Re:DUI checkpoints by Rhymoid · · Score: 1

      They don't? I don't know how they happen in the USA, but I'd think they're performed by police officers. If a police officer notices a strong marijuana smell (like in this stop & search), isn't that enough for a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity, allowing a search anyway?

    4. Re:DUI checkpoints by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Completely unverifiable hearsay of anonymous tip (yes, this IS possible), vs. statistical likelihood that X% of drivers are drunk on road. Point is, there is data to support a DUI stop on well traveled roads. Where's the data to support that a random phone call by random person about a random event, warrants police inspection by anonymous entity? This SCOTUS ruling validates a police state, both on the roads, and on the sidewalks.

      And I say this as someone who is against DUI stops!

    5. Re:DUI checkpoints by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think they meant to say that an anonymous 911 tip is grounds for a search, just to pull the car over. They were only able to search his car because they smelled marijuana. But in some states, like Massachusetts, just smelling marijuana is NOT grounds for a search, so all they could do is pull you over and hope they see a dead body in the back seat or something

    6. Re:DUI checkpoints by ShakaUVM · · Score: 1

      >Just to play devil's advocate, how is this more invasive than DUI checkpoints?

      It's less invasive. DUI checkpoints are dragnets. In the case listed above, a guy called in to 9-11 to report that another driver had driven him off the road, and was driving recklessly around the freeway. This was considered adequate justification to conduct a traffic stop, at which point they found drugs in the car.

      I actually don't see what the big deal is (Scali, I'm looking at you). People report things to the police all the time - if they can't follow up on them, then it sort of makes a mockery of citizens participating in keeping our streets safe.

      It's not really an "anonymous" tip. As it was a 9-11 call, they presumably have the cell phone number for the person who called in, and could reasonably call them back and ask them to testify in court against the defendant if they needed to.

    7. Re:DUI checkpoints by kwiecmmm · · Score: 1

      Or if he had gotten pulled over for speeding (or some other minor traffic violation) and the officer smelled the marijuana.

    8. Re:DUI checkpoints by Entropius · · Score: 1

      That's a weird law: smelling marijuana is reasonable suspicion of illegal activity which ought to trigger a search. Why, in this case, doesn't it? Smelling a decomposing corpse is reasonable suspicion, no?

      It seems to be a tacit acknowledgement that marijuana prohibition is stupid but liked by Puritanical elements: "okay, we'll keep this illegal, to mollify you lot, but restrict how that is enforced." Why not just make the law consistent by getting rid of prohibition?

    9. Re:DUI checkpoints by Vermonter · · Score: 1

      Yes, they can search based on suspicion. However, the checkpoint alone does not grant the police the right to search your vehicle. Now granted, all an officer has to do is *claim* to smell marijuana, so in practice the police can search any car they want at a checkpoint. But from a legal perspective, it is not so.

    10. Re:DUI checkpoints by scorp1us · · Score: 1

      With checkpoints, they have to provide notice, and an alternate route around the checkpoint (which is usually staffed, but that's another issue).

      At the check point, you don't have to answer any questions. You just have to stop. IANAL, but you can watch this.

      Also, obligatory, Never talk to the police

      --
      Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
    11. Re:DUI checkpoints by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      Not really, since many officers can claim to smell marijuana in its complete absence. Make them verify the smell with some chemical test before they can search and you'll probably get a lot less searches since they aren't actually smelling weed.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    12. Re:DUI checkpoints by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's a weird law: smelling marijuana is reasonable suspicion of illegal activity which ought to trigger a search. Why, in this case, doesn't it? Smelling a decomposing corpse is reasonable suspicion, no?

      It seems to be a tacit acknowledgement that marijuana prohibition is stupid but liked by Puritanical elements: "okay, we'll keep this illegal, to mollify you lot, but restrict how that is enforced." Why not just make the law consistent by getting rid of prohibition?

      In the USA, we are slowly getting rid of this prohibition. The prohibition and the enforcement of it has already ruined more lives than the drug ever did.

    13. Re:DUI checkpoints by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      >Just to play devil's advocate, how is this more invasive than DUI checkpoints?

      It's less invasive. DUI checkpoints are dragnets. In the case listed above, a guy called in to 9-11 to report that another driver had driven him off the road, and was driving recklessly around the freeway. This was considered adequate justification to conduct a traffic stop, at which point they found drugs in the car.

      I actually don't see what the big deal is (Scali, I'm looking at you). People report things to the police all the time - if they can't follow up on them, then it sort of makes a mockery of citizens participating in keeping our streets safe.

      It's not really an "anonymous" tip. As it was a 9-11 call, they presumably have the cell phone number for the person who called in, and could reasonably call them back and ask them to testify in court against the defendant if they needed to.

      As it was a 9-1-1 call, they can determine to within 1000 meters where the telephone was when the call was made.

      But that doesn't mean that the person you get when you call back will always be the same person who used the phone to call.

    14. Re:DUI checkpoints by Enigma2175 · · Score: 1

      Not really, since many officers can claim to smell marijuana in its complete absence. Make them verify the smell with some chemical test before they can search and you'll probably get a lot less searches since they aren't actually smelling weed.

      Or even more nebulous, claim that their dog smells marijuana. The dog doesn't have to testify, so there is no way to impeach the evidence.

      Sure, in this case the guy had a bunch of pot but we don't hear about the cases where the police claimed they smelled marijuana to justify a search but subsequently found none except through anecdotes from friends as there are no charges filed in those instances.

      --

      Enigma

    15. Re:DUI checkpoints by swillden · · Score: 1

      Not really, since many officers can claim to smell marijuana in its complete absence. Make them verify the smell with some chemical test before they can search and you'll probably get a lot less searches since they aren't actually smelling weed.

      Good luck getting departments to buy weed-sniffing equipment (assuming it exists) which is clearly inferior to officers' own noses. And it will be inferior unless it can provide false positives on demand.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    16. Re:DUI checkpoints by ShakaUVM · · Score: 1

      >But that doesn't mean that the person you get when you call back will always be the same person who used the phone to call.

      So? My point is that the media has been portraying this as an "anonymous tip", like someone left a post-it on the door of the police station or something. This guy called in to report a reckless driver running him off the road, and so, if they cared, they could track down the witness to get them to testify in adversarial court proceedings.

  13. A boon for Parallel Construction by scorp1us · · Score: 2

    This is a boon to "parallel construction"

    I for one don't think that the accuser should ever be anonymous when it comes to court cases, since we would have a right to face them in a court of law. I think for reporting the guy down the street who keeps violating noise or lawn ordinances is a different story. As those never really go to court.

    --
    Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
    1. Re:A boon for Parallel Construction by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      Exactly. Now, if cops want to search someone they don't have enough legal basis to search ... they will just have one of their officers call in an 'anonymous' call.

      This is going to lead to police having more and more powers to conduct things without enough legal basis.

      This is not a good thing.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:A boon for Parallel Construction by omnichad · · Score: 1

      I for one don't think that the accuser should ever be anonymous when it comes to court cases, since we would have a right to face them in a court of law.

      Hint: an E911 call is not anonymous (in most cases). But even if they are, we're only talking about establishing reasonable suspicion. That's all it takes to make a traffic stop. Everything that happened beyond that is fully legal and by the book. The search was based on an odor which is also an established probable cause (although parallel construction could be an issue if they didn't actually smell anything).

    3. Re:A boon for Parallel Construction by scorp1us · · Score: 2

      The stop was based on "anonymous", the odor only was encountered because of the stop, in which the window came down. Neither the odor nor the drugs were perceivable before that. If the police just happened across the vehicle, they would need a suspicion of their own.

      I'm all for the guy getting stopped because of his operating a vehicle unsafely.
      I'm all for the guy getting busted for pot.
      I'm not ok with his accuser being considered "anonymous".

      --
      Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
    4. Re:A boon for Parallel Construction by omnichad · · Score: 1

      The fact is, it was ruled legitimate because it's not truly anonymous:

      Relying on 911 tipsters is reasonable, he said, because "a 911 call has some features that allow for identifying and tracking callers," and the calls can be recorded.

      If they need to they can almost certainly track down the caller. Even most prepaid phones in the US require a verified billing address.

    5. Re:A boon for Parallel Construction by Megol · · Score: 1

      This is a boon to "parallel construction"

      I for one don't think that the accuser should ever be anonymous when it comes to court cases, since we would have a right to face them in a court of law.

      Do you have mush for brains? Let me spell this out slowly:
      . The anonymous status of the caller doesn't directly affect the case. At most the fact that there were a call at all is relevant and this can easily be verified.
      . The search was done due to the smell of marijuana. Not because of the anonymous call in itself - BECAUSE OF A REASONABLE SUSPICION WHEN THE DRIVER WAS STOPPED.
      . The police then found a lot of it.

      The idiotic idea that reporting something anonymously that - indirectly - leads to an arrest is a problem is so fucking crazy that I can't imagine the train of thoughts leading to it. It isn't even a suggestion that the call was made up as a cover to do the search or that the call came from the police themselves or anybody associated with them - it's just a blabbering about anonymous calls are eeeevil.

      People report people driving badly all the time and this removes drugged up, half-sleeping and plainly dangerous drivers from traffic. I think it is a good thing but apparently they shouldn't to it, some extra people killed is just a small price for avoiding the eeevils of anonymous calls.

      I think for reporting the guy down the street who keeps violating noise or lawn ordinances is a different story. As those never really go to court.

      What? At worst you could sue them _but_ you are simply wrong, people are tried for such things all the time. Remove your crazy guy blinders and see the world for once.

    6. Re:A boon for Parallel Construction by nonsequitor · · Score: 1

      I think this is exactly what is happening when a criminal "butt dials" 911 or the sheriff who hears them discuss their plans in their entirety. I think that there must be some system in place that flags the phone user to the NSA, who when listening to their activated mic after hacking their phone, connects them to 911 automatically when they determine an active crime is being discussed. Or as in this case, the NSA calls the DEA who execute some parallel construction when they think the package is in transit.

      Pre-Snowden this would be called a conspiracy theory, now it actually sounds fairly reasonable.

    7. Re:A boon for Parallel Construction by tsqr · · Score: 1

      Pre-Snowden this would be called a conspiracy theory, now it actually sounds fairly reasonable.

      Heh. No, it actually still sounds like a conspiracy theory.

    8. Re:A boon for Parallel Construction by Samizdata · · Score: 1

      Exactly. Now, if cops want to search someone they don't have enough legal basis to search ... they will just have one of their officers call in an 'anonymous' call.

      This is going to lead to police having more and more powers to conduct things without enough legal basis.

      This is not a good thing.

      Nope. Got that wrong. With these types of changes, they WILL have enough legal basis. Now, compare that amount of legal basis against 10 years ago...

      --
      It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage. - Colonel Henry Walton Jones, Jr., Ph.D.
  14. Scalia is jumping the shark. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    In a scathing dissent, fellow conservative Scalia called the Thomas opinion a "freedom-destroying cocktail" that would encourage "malevolent" tipsters to make false reports. It matters not whether the caller gave details about her alleged accident. The issue, said Scalia, is "whether what she claimed to know was true."

    Is Scalia seriously suggesting police can act on a tip only after proving that tipster is telling the truth? The operative word is "reasonable" suspicion. The number of false reports to 911 is vanishingly small, and there is very reasonable to believe the tipster was telling the truth.

    Just last week he suggested seriously people unsatisfied with taxes should rebel. Wonder what would happen if people who strongly believe that "the citizens united decision was unconstitutional and dilutes the franchise of American citizens, and allows foreign non citizens to set up shell corporations to influence US elections" to pursue second amendment remedies against the SCOTUS. Lucky for Scalia most progressives still believe in elections, democracy, rule of law and that SCOTUS interpretation of the constitution is the only legal interpretation.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Scalia is jumping the shark. by phillk6751 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As to the inference that the truck's driver was drunk, Scalia pointed out that the police officers here followed the pickup for over five minutes — and "five minutes is a long time" — without any indication of drunken driving or even bad driving. "After today's opinion," said Scalia, "all of us on the road, and not just drug dealers, are at risk ... "

      Actually sounds Scalia was the dissenting opinion, period. I tend to agree with the quoted point of view of Scalia...an anonymous 911 call prompts police to target this driver, the driver gives NO indication of dui/reckless/endangering driving, yet the cops STILL pull the guy over, and win in court because of a "technicality". Scalia is right, we are all at risk for abuse of power by cops (not only that, but the justice system ruling in favor of the loss of our freedoms that are OWED to us by the Constitution).

    2. Re:Scalia is jumping the shark. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But with tips that are non-anonymous, the victim of a false tip could possibly sue the tipster.

    3. Re:Scalia is jumping the shark. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Regarding his suggestion to revolt over taxes, I'd like to point out that the colonies revolted over a single-digit percentage tax rate that didn't buy them any representation with the king.

      Now there are places with double-digit sales taxes, and combined city, state and federal income taxes above 50%. On top of that, the average citizen still has no more actual representation than the residents of the colonies did in the mid 1700s.

    4. Re:Scalia is jumping the shark. by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 2

      Is Scalia seriously suggesting police can act on a tip only after proving that tipster is telling the truth?

      As much as I hate to find myself anywhere near Scalia (through he's joined here by Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan), police can legitimately act on a tip only after proving that a tipster is *likely* to be telling the truth. In this case, after following the car for five minutes and not seeing anything that gave them suspicion that the driver was drunk, there's no way that they could have reasonable suspicion this guy was a drunk driver. Given the documented existence of SWATing, anonymous tips cannot be considered credible grounds for intrusion into a person's liberty.

      Interestingly, in this case the tip was not anonymous, but that fact wasn't brought up in the original prosecution and so the tip is dealt with as anonymous.

      Lucky for Scalia most progressives still believe in elections, democracy, rule of law and that SCOTUS interpretation of the constitution is the only legal interpretation.

      Really? You believe that most progressives believe that in 1857, no person of African descent could be a citizen of a state, despite zero evidence for this decision in the text of the Constitution? And that in 1896, states could comply with the equal protection clause via "separate but equal" bullshit? Well, it does seem that "progressive" has been defined downwards since Obama came into office.

      Human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and SCOTUS decisions, are areas that overlap sometimes but not always. Genuine progressives put human rights before the others.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    5. Re:Scalia is jumping the shark. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

      Human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and SCOTUS decisions, are areas that overlap sometimes but not always. Genuine progressives put human rights before the others.

      Still, you would not pack heat and stalk the justices right? Like the rightwing nutjobs are doing in Nevada. That was my point.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    6. Re:Scalia is jumping the shark. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow. It seems like you're kind of out there yourself and have your own set of in-party-line grudges that you've fostered over the years. Or maybe everything the government does it right and we should just let them do what they want until the courts decide to slap hands? It's worked out so well so far, hasn't it?

  15. Parallel Construction. by Jahoda · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Parallel Construction. You'll pardon me if I don't believe a single word from the mouths of our American "law enforcement" and "justice" system. Amazing that he just happened to have those 30 pounds of weed.

    1. Re:Parallel Construction. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BINGO !

      I am an anonymous nut, so I don't have modpoints. Have an anon-modpoint from me.

    2. Re:Parallel Construction. by PPH · · Score: 2

      This.

      It relieves the police of the need to manufacture a plausible reason for the stop. So they won't have to reveal that cell phone feed from the NSA that gave them the details of the drug delivery.

      Sure, there are measures the police can use to identify the source of an anonymous 911 call. But these would only be used in the event someone might be abusing the system. There would be no need to investigate the source of a call giving a valid tip, so they wouldn't. Likewise, there would be no investigation of a non-existant 911 call.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  16. Stupid summaries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He was pulled over because of a report from a concerned driver. (For all the cop knew, the suspect could have been drunk)

    Detecting drugs is a reasonable cause to search a vehicle or residence. The cop smelled herb, and searched the car.

    Quit hauling 30lbs of herb around and I'm sure you'll stop getting busted.

    1. Re:Stupid summaries by itsenrique · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and hauling it while drunk too! The issue is how this applies to false tips made by three letter agencies (DEA especially). Perhaps the man really did run someone off the road. Perhaps the DEA had a heads up but no legal means to pursue it. He drove 100% fine after the police were following him, so he was able to. He had 30lbs of bud in his car, is it not a little suspicious he was running people off the road? The so called "parallel construction" we should all be worried about. Remember, letting this guy go hurts no one. Sending him away sets a dangerous precedent.

    2. Re:Stupid summaries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >> Remember, letting this guy go hurts no one.

      Yeah, until he crashes into someone. What if he really _was_ drunk? Letting an impaired driver to continue driving is gross negligence.

    3. Re:Stupid summaries by itsenrique · · Score: 1

      Well, I should have read the article. The call wasn't really anonymous, but it was submitted in evidence as such and has to be handled that way as far as the court case goes. I still maintain it should be thrown out on technicality.

  17. That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The question wasn't what the woman was supposed to do. The question was what the police were entitled to do.

    1. Re:That wasn't the question by alen · · Score: 1

      they got a call including plate # and location and stopped the car
      what's the problem?

    2. Re:That wasn't the question by Dishevel · · Score: 2, Insightful
      While following the car they found nothing to warrant them pulling the car over. The only "suspicion" they had was an anonymous call.

      While it may have worked out ok in this situation it is a very bad president. I do not want to be pulled over for no fucking reason.

      --
      Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
    3. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You need to look at the reality. Lets say there wasn't a 9/11, and an anonymous caller reports a car that tried to run them off the road, and gives the license plate. You're actually telling me police will not check that out??? In NYC, pre-911, police were busting into apartments with SWAT teams based on the hearsay a drug dealing junkie. Many hard working families had kids with guns pointed on them by paramilitary cops.

      The only thing that seems fishy to me is the search. I find it hard to believe that the driver consented to the search, so I don't see how the police could "legally" search the car. Perhaps *that* used some 9/11 mojo.

    4. Re:That wasn't the question by Gr8Apes · · Score: 4, Funny

      While it may have worked out ok in this situation it is a very bad president.

      It might be better than last few presidents we've had.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    5. Re:That wasn't the question by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They got a call, including plate number and location, that a car had run someone off the road.

      What they did not have was any evidence that someone was actually run off the road.

      Nor did they have any evidence that the driver of the suspect vehicle was in any way impaired (they followed him for five minutes without seeing any erratic driving).

      For all we know, the "anonymous caller" could have been his ex trying to get him in trouble, or a member of a rival drug gang trying to get his payload confiscated....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    6. Re:That wasn't the question by B1 · · Score: 0

      When the police officers pulled the driver over, they smelled marijuana. That gave them probable cause, which allows them to search without consent.

    7. Re:That wasn't the question by Wapiti-eater · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Why would the driver have to consent? The drive for "public security" has already diminished our rights to the point that as soon as the officer states he 'smelled weed', he has all the consent he needs. Maybe you need to take a look at reality and hopefully begin to understand the severe slope we're already sliding down. What's next? Paying kids with new uniforms to turn in their parents for cussing?

      --
      Senior NCO in the fight against entropy. I've seen things, man. Things no one should have to see.....
    8. Re:That wasn't the question by RabidReindeer · · Score: 2

      While it may have worked out ok in this situation it is a very bad president.

      It might be better than last few presidents we've had.

      Well, the last couple of presidents have been guiding us on a downward course where surveillance is everything and you are guilty until proven innocent. All the way back to "get-the-government-off-the-backs-of-the-people-Reagan", who thoughtfully provided us with the "you're a drug-addled illegal alien and you can't be hired until you demonstrate otherwise" model for business.

      At the rate we're going, a rock would make a better president.

    9. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While it may have worked out ok in this situation it is a very bad president. I do not want to be pulled over for no fucking reason.

      While the president may be bad, the precedent isn't great either.

    10. Re:That wasn't the question by king+neckbeard · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Or more likely, a government agent with information obtained illegally.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    11. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The courts ruled a long time ago that smelling marijuana is probably cause for searching a car. So, get a better air freshener next time.

    12. Re:That wasn't the question by TheCarp · · Score: 5, Insightful

      > For all we know, the "anonymous caller" could have been his ex trying to get him in trouble, or a member of a
      > rival drug gang trying to get his payload confiscated....

      Exactly, and you know....I know people with exes who would pull shit like that. I mean for fucks sake, when my friend's wife went down to report his ex-wife punching her, she found the ex-wife was already down there filing a report saying that she was the one punched. Now, after years of back and forth battles (custody would you believe) in and out of court, including false charges of various kinds,

      More than that though.... if there is no need to go back and verify the original tip, if it can be anonymous....then the police can phone in their own tips! This is yet more parallell construction bullshit. How do we even know there was such a woman? For all we really know it was a cop, or the wife of a cop, making a call to cover up the real source of the information....ie a criminal conspiracy to deny the driver the right to a fair trial.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    13. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      urine idjit
      i live in a relatively low-crime rural-ish area outside a minor metro area...
      you get shit stolen out here, forget about the kops even COMING OUT OR MAKING A REPORT...
      seriously, UNLESS it is a car or a cow or a tractor, or you 'know someone', they don't give a shit and WILL NOT file a report UNLESS you get all stinky about it...
      (guess how motivated them piggies are to 'solve' your crime then ? )
      ALL KINDS OF 'crime' -especially property crime- WILL NOT be 'investigated' (which is mostly a joke right there) UNLESS it is big ticket, and/or you are a bigwig...
      kids pointing their fingers at each other and going *pew*pew* at school ? SWAT team to the 'rescue' ! ! !
      ACTUAL crimes ? geez, those require actual -you know- work, and that cuts into their donut eating time, so, well, no thanks, citizen, move along, nothing to see here...

    14. Re:That wasn't the question by afidel · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Dude, with 30lbs of marijuana in the car even a coke fiend with a head cold could have smelled the stuff and become suspicious that the car contained illegal contraband. I personally am in favor of legalization, but as long as it's illegal I fully acknowledge that someone carrying that amount of stuff is going to give enough signals to the police to easily justify a search, just like grow houses that the cops can smell from public places. The problem is drugs being against the law, not that police officers confronted with obvious signs of illegal behavior are conducting searches based on reasonable suspicion. The question at hand was whether an anonymous call to 911 could justify pulling over a vehicle, not whether a cop who smells a vehicle reeking of drugs has a reasonable enough suspicion to conduct a search.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    15. Re:That wasn't the question by bitingduck · · Score: 2

      A couple of times while on a bicycle I've stopped police cars to give them descriptions of vehicles that were driving dangerously: in one case a gravel truck that almost ran us over on a narrow road and in another case a sports car coming up a winding mountain road with all 4 wheels on the wrong side of the yellow line around a blind corner. In both cases they lit up and set out after them without worrying about whether they could find me again. In both cases I could describe the vehicle, recent location, and direction, but no plate. They certainly would pull them over based on those tips, and I agree that they'd need to find some other PC to justify a search beyond what's in plain sight.

    16. Re:That wasn't the question by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      > ... including false charges of various kinds,

      I meant to finish that.... he is finally winning, but, mostly because she kept up her antics. There have been several points where a misstep could have lost everything and landed him in jail.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    17. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The courts ruled a long time ago that smelling marijuana is probably cause for searching a car. So, get a better air freshener next time.

      You believe that the cops won't claim they "smelled" marijuana even when there is nothing in the air?

    18. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know of a situation where a guy wanted to hook up with a chick, and she spurned him, so he called the cops and said she was driving drunk, and gave all the info. Cops found her car and followed her and observed for a bit, then pulled her over for "suspicion of DUI/DWI" when she stopped a few few short of the crosswalk markings at a red light.

    19. Re:That wasn't the question by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      I would think that someone with 30 lbs is taking measures to contain the smell, although in all fairness, I have never been in a vehicle with 30 lbs of marijuana. I would think that smoking in the car would be the sign that is actually triggered most of the time, followed by those with personal usage bags that are poorly sealed.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    20. Re:That wasn't the question by Agent0013 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Which just shows that the "anonymous" call was actually placed by the DEA or NSA or whoever had some illegally gotten information. Remember how they like to perform what they call "Parallel Construction". And now the supreme court has ruled that OK.

      --

      -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
    21. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      conspiracy to deny the driver the right to a fair trial.

      Nothing about a "fair trial". The trial was fair. He was guilty. The question is whether the way he
      was discovered to be guilty was legal. The primary reason we have these laws is to prevent
      harrassment and "fishing" expeditions. Police phoning their own tips in is a legitimate concern but
      I think some of it comes down to a balance. If there is a reasonable level of suspicion, a 3 minute
      pullover for questioning seems reasonable. I've been questioned by the police on occasion for a
      few minutes then let go. It didn't bother me at all. So really the question is what is a "reasonable"
      amount of evidence needed for a "reasonable" amount of search. A five minute conversation
      because I use an excessive amount of electricity or even a five minute walkthru seems reasonable.
      The problem also comes though when they find something unrelated. If they walk thru my house
      because of unusual electricity usage and find an unlicensed gun or a child handcuffed to a chair,
      should they be allowed to do anything about it as it has nothing to do with excessive electricity use.
      It seems somewhat unreasonable to say that a cop can not stop blatant child abuse just because
      they were investigating something unrelated.

    22. Re:That wasn't the question by John.Banister · · Score: 1

      I hope that's changed in WA and CO (and, really, states that permit medical marijuana). Probable cause to test the driver for DUI I could see, but cause for a search ought no longer to apply. "My friend smoked in my car while hiding from - the rain, his ex-wife, etc.," ought to be a legitimate, reasonable explanation for the smell.

    23. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Either way the court would have ruled, there would have been problems. It's a bit of a paradox.

      As you pointed out, the current ruling opens one up to being pulled over for no reason. (Or, worse, it gives law enforcement who are using unconstitutional investigative methods an excuse for a 'routine traffic stop' -- Officer #1 calls in an anonymous 911 call about Mr. Suspect driving erratically; it's an easy way to sidestep a warrant).

      On the other hand, as in the case at hand, there may be a valid reason for the police to investigate.

      Personally, I think some sort of compromise should have been ruled on by the justices. Police can use 911 tips to pull people over, but only if they're not anonymous. The caller must be identified so if they are pulling a prank or helping the police avoid warrants or have a vendetta against the accused, the suspect's defense team and the prosecutor can be made aware of who made the accusation. Anonymous accusations don't sit well with me.

    24. Re:That wasn't the question by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      > if it can be anonymous....then the police can phone in their own tips!

      And that's the whole point.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    25. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For all we know, the "anonymous caller" could have been his ex trying to get him in trouble, or a member of a rival drug gang trying to get his payload confiscated....

      Doesn't change the fact that he was caught committing a crime by means of a legal search.

    26. Re:That wasn't the question by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      > Nothing about a "fair trial". The trial was fair. He was guilty. The question is whether the way he
      > was discovered to be guilty was legal. The primary reason we have these laws is to prevent
      > harrassment and "fishing" expeditions.

      How is the trial fair if the accused has no way to fairly evaluate the tree upon which the fruits of evidence were grown? This practice effectively gives the police a loophole to deny the courts review of the evidence trail. How is a trial fair if the evidence is all fruits from a poisoned tree?

      The fruit of a hidden and unknown tree should never be allowed on the table and should be assumed poisoned.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    27. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While it may have worked out ok in this situation it is a very bad president.

      THANKS OBAMA!

    28. Re:That wasn't the question by Gr8Apes · · Score: 0

      "get-the-government-off-the-backs-of-the-wealthy/industry-Reagan"

      FTFY - nothing Reagan did really helped the individual, but did set into motion a whole bunch of stuff that lead ultimately to a second depression, or damn near enough. Maybe he was nostalgic? I used to think Reagan was good, but in analyzing his actions and the results with the benefit of hindsight, that is no longer the case. Was he the worst president? That would have been open to debate, except "W" takes the crown by a long long long shot there, across the board.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    29. Re:That wasn't the question by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 2

      Dude with 30lbs of marijuana in an uncovered truck bed.

      I hate the War on Drugs as much as the next /.er, but seriously, if you have that much weed you can probably afford a hard-top or a van or something.

    30. Re:That wasn't the question by thaylin · · Score: 1

      How did they have no way to evaluate it? Where was the poisonous tree? If they were ticketed for reckless driving you would have a point, but they were not, so you dont.

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    31. Re:That wasn't the question by thaylin · · Score: 1

      And that would allow them to stop you, then what? They still cannot search..

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    32. Re:That wasn't the question by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      But in this case, they did search. "I think I smell something".

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    33. Re:That wasn't the question by PFactor · · Score: 1

      Parallel construction at its finest.

      --
      Don't believe anything I say. I crash test crack pipes for a living.
    34. Re:That wasn't the question by mydn · · Score: 3, Funny

      it is a very bad president

      Come on, now. This is Obama's fault, too?

    35. Re:That wasn't the question by Dishevel · · Score: 0
      Bad me.

      Of course I meant to state that it was Bushes Fault!

      No I am back in the mainstream.

      --
      Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
    36. Re:That wasn't the question by Dare+nMc · · Score: 1

      that the police officers here followed the pickup for over five minutes â" and "five minutes is a long time" - without any indication of drunken driving or even bad driving.

      Basically they had reason to investigate the call, but did they have reason to investigate un-related offenses? IE the concern of drunkenness didn't pan out, but we pulled him over anyway. Then they continued to search, for a cause completely un-related to the first tip. At some point you have to draw a line.

    37. Re:That wasn't the question by rcamans · · Score: 1

      By rival drug gang, are you referring to the police, DEA, the Bloods, the Crips, or some other government agency like the big Mexican cartels?
      The way this violates his rights is that he cannot confront his accuser in a court of law (as if we actually had courts of law, instead of kangaroo courts).
      And it was probably his ex-girlfriend, who dumped him and wanted more satisfaction. Or a hooker he stiffed for the cost of the blow job.
      Or a girl he honked at.

      --
      wake up and hold your nose
    38. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem is I don't like the hat you are wearing as you srive down the highway, so I am reporting anonymously that you threatened me. Have fun being tazered. and thrown in jail, and when your attorney demands to question the witness, for which you have a right to face your accusers, then they will not be able to produce that witness. Sure, you may get off on technicality, but look at all the problem is caused you,

    39. Re:That wasn't the question by TheCarp · · Score: 2

      Right there in the word "Anonymous tip.

      Quite simply the tip itself is part of the tree. At the very least, that tip is the trunk of the tree. Without it, he would not have been given extra scrutiny beyond what anyone else would get. If that trunk is not part of the evidence presented, then how do we know if it is the trunk or just another branch; being presented as such.

      Parallel construction is fraud, and this is little more than the courts giving a full green light to the production of false evidence trails.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    40. Re:That wasn't the question by micahraleigh · · Score: 0

      Testimony is evidence.

      Historically the testimony of two witnesses is sufficient for capital sentences.

    41. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. They searched for reasons completely unrelated to the anonymous tip.

      If you disagree with the stop based on an anonymous tip, that is fine. If you disagree with the search based on "I think I smell something", that is also fine. But please do not act like the search had anything to do with the anonymous tip.

    42. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > ... including false charges of various kinds,

      I meant to finish that.... he is finally winning, but, mostly because she kept up her antics. There have been several points where a misstep could have lost everything and landed him in jail.

      "... all of the lawyers' wallets are winning,..."

      There, fixed that for you.

    43. Re:That wasn't the question by Redmancometh · · Score: 1

      If the probable cause to search was the call thats insanity. However if PC was obtained via the smell that makes sense.

      Calling a vehicle in should be enough topulll them over, but not enough to search. However 20 pounds of bud is gonna stink for a long ways no matter how well its wrapped. At the very least in this instance I doubt very strongly the cop was lying about the smell.

    44. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Quite simply the tip itself is part of the tree. At the very least, that tip is the trunk of the tree.

      To repeat what thaylin said, if they were ticketed for reckless driving you would have a point, but they were not, so you dont.

      Disagree? Then please explain how the reason for pulling someone over makes the discovery of something that is in plain sight (or in this case, smell) "fruit of the poisonous tree". Because to some of us, even those of us who dislike the turn of events*, it's like saying that someone cannot be arrested for domestic violence because "it's a Tuesday". WTF does the day of the week have to do with whether or not you can arrest someone???

      *Not trying to lend credibility to my position, but am trying to get you to not dismiss me as some troll.

    45. Re:That wasn't the question by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 1

      When the police officers pulled the driver over, they smelled marijuana. That gave them probable cause, which allows them to search without consent.

      Which is why many of the potheads i know keep a can or fabreeze air freshener in their cars

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    46. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's the only way to get /dotters to be against it - suggest that angry, crazy women (who "want it all", damn them!) might get righteous men (just being manly) in trouble for NO REASON AT ALL. That makes it a men's rights issue. Now if we could only put a threat to gun ownership in there, readers would start to picket the Court.

    47. Re:That wasn't the question by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      ...but anyone can say "I think I smelled something" or words to that effect.

      Example: I used to work a contract in a different city, coming home (200 miles one way) on weekends. Often I'd be on the road either going to work or coming from work in the wee hours -- 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM. I got pulled over often. The cop would check my papers and let me go.

      When I asked why I was pulled over, they'd say "you were weaving" or "you did not signal a merge when your lane ended". (Which I don't believe you're required to do but I didn't argue.) Finally, when the same cop realized he had pulled me over three weekends in a row at 2:00 AM, he admitted they pull lone vehicles over during the wee hours "just to check them out", and they can always find some excuse to pull someone over if "they needed checking out".

      There's a small additional step from there to "I smell something" or ...what is the latest law enforcement tool?... oh yes, "I observed debris".

      My original point is that in a world where anyone can phone in an anonymous tip that leads to a vehicle being pulled over or a cop at someone's door, it inevitably follows, at least in some police departments, that cops will be phoning in their own anonymous tips. That the tip has no relation to the actual stop is a bonus. It only means the tip can be pretty much anything.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    48. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Getting the plate number is the tip of the scale for me. Without that and just a vehicle description I would say no go.

      They probably ran the plates and found the owner had priors more than likely so with the call they pulled it over.

      No conspiracy just plain old bad luck for the driver.

    49. Re:That wasn't the question by neonKow · · Score: 1

      I don't know which side of the fence I am on this, but I believe that misrepresenting facts is harmful to the debate.

      We know a lot more than that about the "anonymous" tip. The prosecution didn't bring in the 911 operator or the caller (who provided her name) and just treated the call as anonymous for the trial. TFA also points out that there are heavy legal penalties for abusing 911 as well as technological measures in place to locate false callers.

      I'd argue that the police can reasonable dismiss that it might be an upset ex, and if it turns out it was just an angry ex, just getting pulled over once is not that big of a deal. I'd also argue that the title on /. is incorrect. The Supreme court only ruled that it's OK to perform a traffic stop based on anonymous 911 tips.

    50. Re:That wasn't the question by neonKow · · Score: 1

      Wow. So much fear-mongering.

      More than that though.... if there is no need to go back and verify the original tip, if it can be anonymous....then the police can phone in their own tips!

      That's silly. If you have cops willing to lie, they could just pull you over for speeding, driving erratically, or not wearing your seatbelt. This is about the 4th Amendment, not about corrupt cops.

      This is yet more parallell construction bullshit. How do we even know there was such a woman? For all we really know it was a cop, or the wife of a cop, making a call to cover up the real source of the information....ie a criminal conspiracy to deny the driver the right to a fair trial.

      Again, a complete a non-issue. The driver isn't getting denied any sort of a fair trail. The defense wanted to throw out that fact that they were carrying 30 lbs of weed on a (admittedly very important) technicality. His right to a trial is in no way threatened.

      The Justices were split 5-4 because it's a difficult question to ask, but not for any of the nonsense you brought up.

    51. Re:That wasn't the question by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      I already said why....because they had no reason to give him extra scrutiny. There was no reason to pull him over in the first place. Another person, driving as he was driving, would not have been pulled over. The only difference between what he did, and anyone else, is the claims of an anonymous person who could easily have been a police officer trying to hide the real investigation.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    52. Re:That wasn't the question by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      While it may have worked out ok in this situation it is a very bad president. I do not want to be pulled over for no fucking reason.

      I agree that Obama is a very bad President, but what does he have to do with this?

    53. Re:That wasn't the question by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      Reagan had his pluses and minuses. While he's the one I consider most responsible for the destruction of the Presumption of Innocence as well as for the horrible failure that is Trickle-Down Economics, he did revive the country's faith in itself, even though a lot of that came from riding rough-shod over the rest of the world.

      I'd grade him above average, depending on what you want to count score by. No Abraham Lincoln, but he did bring optimism to a nation demoralized by the corruption of Johnson, the scandal of Nixon and the general ineffectiveness of Carter.

      Unfortunately, he was then used as an excuse by his fellow partisans to promote every questionable fiscal, economic and political misfeasance that they could hallucinate.

      It took the train wreck of the GWB administration to strip the luster off those policies and by association to tarnish Reagan's image.

      So far, Obama's main claim to fame is in demonstrating that the other side isn't exactly brimming with solutions, though.

    54. Re:That wasn't the question by thaylin · · Score: 1

      Everything that leads to question gives something extra scrutiny. A shop keeper reporting a person who stole from the store gives something extra scrutiny to a person who would otherwise would be no reason to stop them. Given extra scrutiny is not a reason not to pull someone over on suspicion. If you do that you make it impossible for them to question people for anything, unless the cop was a direct eye witness.

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    55. Re:That wasn't the question by thaylin · · Score: 1

      but that is not what this case was about...The I smell something had already been settled, so it is not part of this case. also the tip was not anonymous in any way, that was part of the decision you keep wanting to forget about.

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    56. Re:That wasn't the question by Hategrin · · Score: 1

      You haven't seen a brick before have you. If you think it's really that hard to conceal 30lbs of smell? Consider that semis with 1,000s of pounds of pot go through multiple checkpoints every day and more often than not the k9s don't even notice it. Maybe you can explain how human officers have a easier time smelling pot than trained k9s do. Here's an experiment for you. Go to the grocery store, pick up a PLASTIC can of Folgers, and when you're at the checkout see if you can smell the coffee inside of the plastic "can". Just be sure it's one of those "cans" where the coffee is in a sealed bag, then know that bricks of "Mexican dirt weed" (or w/e) are sealed up much more thoroughly. After all, coffee usually has a stronger smell (although more pleasant imo) than pot does, especially if we're talking about brick weed.

    57. Re:That wasn't the question by volmtech · · Score: 1

      I would think with more surveillance the police could have seen for themselves whether or not the woman was ran off the road.

    58. Re:That wasn't the question by Redmancometh · · Score: 1

      A "brick" is only a thing with extremely bad bud. Granted it may have been "bricked", but you don't brick hydro. You get it in QP or HP vacuum bags. Even stealth bagged it will smell like crazy.

      To actually cover the smell you have to use glass, plastic doesn't do jack shit. The smell comes from turpene salts which more or less go right through any non-polar compound (IE plastic) like a bullet through toilet paper.

      "Maybe you can explain how human officers have a easier time smelling pot than trained k9s do."

      No, just absolutely not. The canine units are either distracted or their "signals" (which are supposed to be subtle so the cop can easily say "no no he's signaling promise") are going unnoticed.

      Anyways you're probably right, and it was probably some awful schwag compressed into bricks. In which case the smell could be concealed if they had good stealth. Try that shit with some indoor or even really good outdoor one day though, and I promise it won't work :).

      Either way if the cop says it smelled like weed, and found weed, it's hard to argue with him. They use it as an excuse a lot, but it seems like there is no reason to suspect that this is one of those cases.

      Like I said pulling a vehicle over due to an anonymous call seems reasonable, but there should be criteria for traceablity. In other words if it's 100% anonymous it should be disregarded. Because it seems to me that they went through effort to be anonymous which...when filing a police report should be a big red flag I would think.

      If the search itself is justified by it (which it looks to me, after RTFA that it isn't) that is ridiculous and should be absolutely unconstitutional.

      I'm guessing the headline is just a wee bit inflammatory for views. Go dice holdings I guess.

    59. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess I should start pulling over cops to report bicyclists too, then. They're much more a danger on the road, ignoring rules of the road, expecting the world to protect them from their own stupidity.

    60. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bullshit. You're not listening. A shopkeeper is not anonymous. And, they DID question him in this case, by following him for several minutes. That was enough to prove the tip false, or at least prove it not substantial enough to warrant stopping the driver.

    61. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which means anyone can be pulled over at any time now. Cops don't even need to pretend to make up an excuse. Just call in a fake 911 call. Who do you think is best positioned to fake a 911 call and get away with it? Now, I agree, they could already pull anyone over at any time. But now, in court, you can't even question the cop as to his reasoning for pulling someone over. Now they can get away with it with no scrutiny. You're an idiot if you don't see this.

    62. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With 300 lbs of weed in the car the guy was probably stoned on the fumes alone!!

    63. Re:That wasn't the question by Druegan · · Score: 1

      As another hater of the War on Drugs, I still have little sympathy for the person pulled over because of weed stank.

      Seriously, if you can't be professional enough to at least plastic wrap your 30 lbs of weed in multiple layers of plastic wrap with at *least* one layer of instant coffee in the middle to cover up the dank, you're just lazy and don't belong in the business.

    64. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Exactly, and you know....I know people with exes who would pull shit like that

      Yeah. The subtle trick to avoid this is to check your car for a shitload of drugs before you start driving, and if it's there don't get in the fucking car.

      I like a police-hate and drugs-are-bad story as much as anyone but there's far too much mental gymnastics going on in this thread.

    65. Re: That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the subtle signals have more to do with the nature of training animals. Go look up those pigeon superstition videos.

      My armchair dog trainer guess is it's easier to reward the animal for _whatever_ it happens to think it did when you put something in front of it, then to reward it for a chosen action and get it to only do that in the conditions you'd like.

      If you really think about it, it should be far easier to just let the dog decide what it needs to do, because you're associating a reward with two different things and you only control one.

    66. Re:That wasn't the question by Reziac · · Score: 1

      For all we know, the anonymous caller was the one who was impaired... or perhaps ran off the road all by herself, and was looking for someone to blame so she wouldn't get dinged for it on her car insurance.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    67. Re:That wasn't the question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Glad to see that some people can see more than 1 step at a time ahead... Like a game of chess you need to analyze situations in life, something I think most Americans seem to only see the direct move ahead of them, not the end game.

      This guy should have gotten a lawyer to go to the 'crime scene' and show the tracks to where the vehicle was ran of the road, without, it would show a false report making for a much easier case...

  18. Interesting lineup of dissenters by thunderdanp · · Score: 1

    Gotta love when Ginsbur, Kagan, and Sotomayor agree with Scalia

  19. Better than an unverifiable barking dog. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is way better than a search predicated on the interpretation of signs from a dog by THE PERSON WHO WANTS TO SEARCH.
    Why don't they just allow criminal divining rods, that would make it way easier?

    On the plus side, it makes us safer. I think after all the CSI shows people thinks crimes are solved by following evidence. I am pretty sure at this point more major crimes are solved by random car stops and searches for small things.

    1. Re:Better than an unverifiable barking dog. by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      It likely depends upon how you define 'major crime.' Random searches are probably identifying more people transporting drugs, but aren't catching murderers, thieves, rapists, embezzlers, human traffickers, or anyone engaging in assault.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    2. Re:Better than an unverifiable barking dog. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unlicensed guns used in a range of crimes, stolen property, bail jumpers, the humans that are being trafficked, ect.
      There are lots of things to find.

    3. Re:Better than an unverifiable barking dog. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It likely depends upon how you define 'major crime.' Random searches are probably identifying more people transporting drugs, but aren't catching murderers, thieves, rapists, embezzlers, human traffickers, or anyone engaging in assault.

      "Random stops" seem to be the way the police catch many very bad people. Otherwise, the cops don't have a clue about the random psycho criminals who are often "off the radar" of more traditional tracking and locating techniques.

  20. Crime Stoppers by TJEx · · Score: 1

    They want your information not your name. One does not need to call crime stoppers just to report a unsolved crime but a undiscovered crime and no one is calling now to report someone who they don't like to get them in trouble for their stash.

  21. Genuine 911 call? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From the ruling, the call identified the vehicle by model, colour, and plate. I have no problem with stopping and searching the vehicle on the basis of a genuine non-anonymous call - but what if there was no 911 call, or if the police themselves placed the call?

    The dissenters didn't explicitly mention such a possibility but, reading between the lines, they seemed to be aware of it.

    1. Re:Genuine 911 call? by itsenrique · · Score: 1

      Spot on sir, if I had mod points I'd +1 insightful this one. I got the same feeling reading the dissenting opinion.

  22. Can we fix the title? by GoCrazy · · Score: 1

    The ruling doesn't include "search", it only OK's stopping/pulling over.

    The "search" is a separate issue backed by the Plain View Doctrine.

    --
    No beer and no TV make Homer something something
  23. Not really ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That's not what the court held. The court held that in this case, the correlation between the tip and the vehicle's location, description and direction of travel, not the tip itself, was probably cause for the stop, and that the smell of the marajuana emitted from the truck was probably cause for the search.

    The 911 calls are recorded, including the position from e911. You can easily spoof the location with magicjack, but the accusation of the "anonymous" tip being from the police should be adequate for the defense to get a subpeneo to identify the caller.

    Now, for your house, let me present the counter-example. Let's say your'e suspicious that your neighbor is cooking meth, and that he'll shoot you if you call the cops (the second one is a reasonable fear). Should the cops be forced to disregard your call if you decline to give your name for fear of being shot? Should undocumented immigrants be denied justice and public proection because they're concerned that using their name will lead to deportation? There are two sides to this story.

    Also, notably, the dissent rests on two assertions: The anonymous tipster not necessarily being aware that they are identifiable, and that the tip was not corroborated in anyway.

  24. Flaming Gorilla Penis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  25. Yet again a convenience ruling by ehiris · · Score: 1

    This is another ruling that is based on finding something that they think would give the victim (defendant) too much power, allowing him to skirt the law, and not based on true legality.

    It re-confirms that the justices are nothing more than senile elderly people who work with and for the enforcement industry and don't really care about upholding the constitution.

  26. Erratic driving does give reasonable suspicion by mark-t · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Bad driving *does* give reasonable suspicion of impairment, and even an anonymous report is certainly sufficient cause to stop the vehicle and briefly question the driver... which in general would amount to them just saying that they received a report about the vehicle... Since they had not personally witnessed the erratic driving, they would have had no basis to even ask him to get outside of his vehicle, but would have just questioned him through an open window, After quickly checking to see if there were any other reports about the vehicle, they would have asked the driver if they had anything to drink that evening. If the answer was no, and they had no reason to suspect the person was lying (ie, he was not visibly impaired), then they would have just let the person go.

    It was only after they had stopped the vehicle and actually questioned the guy that gave them further reasonable suspicion to search his vehicle, and find that he was guilty of another crime.

    1. Re:Erratic driving does give reasonable suspicion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bad driving *does* give reasonable suspicion of impairment

      If this is so, why don't we see seniors get pulled over on their way to Country Kitchen Buffet every day?

    2. Re:Erratic driving does give reasonable suspicion by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

      It took a supreme court case and 5 justices to decide that what you assert is actually true. Now that it is settled, you just repeated the results.

      In other words, what you have been told or decided on your own, was not a settled truth until this case.

      I'm not sure why you posted, but I do want to caution you against believing facts that are not true. And, your asterisks are little emphasis compared to a supreme court decision.

      Also, rounding to the nearest whole number, half of the justices disagree with you, and I'm not sure you have the credentials to make a case otherwise.

    3. Re:Erratic driving does give reasonable suspicion by mark-t · · Score: 1

      It was true already.... this supreme court decision simply settles the matter. Police have always pull over *ANY* vehicle they want to if they have any reason to suspect that the driver is breaking the law. A 911 report has always been a reason... I know this because I've done it.

    4. Re:Erratic driving does give reasonable suspicion by tsqr · · Score: 1

      It was only after they had stopped the vehicle and actually questioned the guy that gave them further reasonable suspicion to search his vehicle, and find that he was guilty of another crime.

      Well, actually the police said they smelled marijuana as they were approaching the vehicle, so they had reasonable suspicion before they even talked to the driver.

    5. Re:Erratic driving does give reasonable suspicion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and even an anonymous report is certainly sufficient cause to stop the vehicle and briefly question the driver...

      that was the question in this case.. seems you're as stupid as 5/9 supremes.

    6. Re:Erratic driving does give reasonable suspicion by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Probably because most people usually can't be bothered to call in a complaint for bad driving to 911 just because the person is old... you would need to report suspicion of impairment for the police to do anything.

    7. Re:Erratic driving does give reasonable suspicion by mark-t · · Score: 1

      At a road check-stop set up by police to regulate impaired driving, the police don't even need a reason to stop your vehicle and ask if you've had anything to drink. A 911 tip actually gives them more than what they'd need to have just cause to stop a vehicle, and police are not doing their job if they don't follow it up. They do where I live, and I'm glad of it.

      Anyways, there is absolutely nothing illegal about the police stopping a vehicle where the driver has been reported to have done something illegal. When calling 911, however, you do have to actually tell them what the person did which makes you think they are doing something illegal, and you must have actually personally witnessed whatever it was that they did which made you believe that they were breaking the law.

      And considering that they can trace absolutely any call to 911, the number of fraudulent reports tends to be rather low.

  27. Technicality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    30 pounds of weed is not a technicality. He definitely committed the crime in question. The only question is whether the police had the legal right to discover and prosecute him for this.
    I think you mean that he almost escaped on a technicality, but was tripped up by a different technicality? Law is so complicated.

    1. Re:Technicality by phillk6751 · · Score: 1

      The technicality I was speaking of was the anonymous 911 tip allowing the stop in the first place, regardless of the fact that the police witnessed no suspicion themselves when tailing him for 5 minutes.

  28. Pulling him over by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The question is whether or not they had the right to pull him over. Once he was pulled over they smelled marijuana and that was the basis for the actual search which revealed the marijuana.

    While I do tend to agree that it's troubling that an anonymous 911 call is being used to pull somebody over that's not apparently breaking the law, the fact is that the search wasn't based upon the tip and the ultimately conviction had basically nothing to do with the allegations in the call.

    1. Re:Pulling him over by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      The bigger question is was this "anonymous caller" a real member of the public reporting a real crime or was it a cop laundering illegally obtained evidence.

      A key principal of the US legal system is that if the cops break the law while obtaining evidence the evidence so-obtained and anything derived from it is thrown out. The idea of this is to keep the police following the law. The problem is that rather than actually follow the law the cops and spooks engage in "paralell construction" where illegal evidence is used to decide who to target but a "clean" chain of evidence is built up later to justify the arrest.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    2. Re:Pulling him over by thaylin · · Score: 1

      Then since the 911 operator had the name, and entered it into the system, you get a court order for it, problem solved.

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    3. Re:Pulling him over by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't see that in evidence. You need to prove there was a name. All I've seen is that the SC said since it was a 911 call, they can record the call and know where it came from. Didn't say anything about knowing exactly who the caller was. In fact, I think you're full of shit. If there was a name attached to the caller, the question wouldn't even arise, and the SC wouldn't be weighing in.

  29. Re: That wasn't the question? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "what's the problem?"

    Why wouldn't the woman give her name and information to the 911 operator? It calls into question the reliability of the information, which in turn creates a question of probable cause.

    What if the caller was lying? What if the caller was a jealous ex? What if the caller was just a prankster? What if the caller was a secret government agent? What if there was no "real" caller and the "call" was faked?

    These sorts of laws are meant to protect the innocent, as well as provide a measure of protection from our own government. Anonymity in these cases can be the same as no evidence at all, as you can't know anything beyond the initial "statement" made. And that "statement" can have considerable ramifications.

  30. Nor should it be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And there's a reason for that. There's times when all a person is able to do is dial and hope that somebody can track them down. Other times they are able to speak but don't know exactly where they are. E911 is basically there to make it easier for the dispatcher to know where to dispatch the help.

    The fact that it's also something that makes it easier to crack down on crank calls is more or less a byproduct of those functions.

  31. "Anonymous" Tip? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority opinion, reasoned that 'a 911 call has some features that allow for identifying and tracking callers' as well as for recording their calls, both of which he believed gave anonymous callers enough reliability"

    The argument seems to be that the "Anonymous" tip isn't actually anonymous.

    This seems like SWATting waiting to happen.

  32. Racing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not sure about other states, but here that's called racing. AFAIK, it doesn't matter whether or not there's another car involved.

  33. Re:Scalia Never Met An Unreasonable Search by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2

    Scalia never met a search he considers unreasonable ...

    Except for this one? Did you miss that Scalia wrote the dissent while Thomas wrote the majority opinion?

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  34. Not long now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You'll soon have your very own writ of assistance... You may as well end your revolution and rejoin the British Empire

  35. Lesson #1 of Drug Smuggling on the Highway by Karl+Cocknozzle · · Score: 2

    DON'T BE A DICK ON THE HIGHWAY! Drive conservatively, dress conservatively, and be completely (able to pass a blood test) sober.

    Most importantly: Don't draw attention to yourself.

    --
    Who did what now?
    1. Re:Lesson #1 of Drug Smuggling on the Highway by BarefootClown · · Score: 1

      How do you know he didn't do just that?

      We have nothing in the record to corroborate the anonymous tip; the police themselves said they followed him for several minutes and he did nothing wrong. What if the tip was a lie?

      --

      "Make it ten--I am only a poor corrupt official."
      --Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), Casablanca

  36. Paranoid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That's not likely. It's technically possible that she does, but it's ridiculous to assume that she does. If that were the case, they'd find out soon enough as 911 calls result in the dispatcher getting quite a bit of information from the phone company.

    I'm not a fan of the 3 letter agencies, but Jesus H Christ, try to keep it at least plausible.

    1. Re:Paranoid by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      It's a technique known to be used, there's not a particularly good reason for her to remain anonymous, and she has an unusual amount of data that appears to be accurate. People who are actually almost run off the road are absolutely horrible at getting make and model, let alone license plate. It would be quite a coincidence that an unimpaired drug dealing driver ran a female Rain Man off the road while he was carrying 30 lbs of weed. However, we know that our government engages in this activity, and to keep as many hands clean as possible and reduce the risk of losing the case due to fruit of the poisonous tree, an anonymous tip on an unrelated crime would be a perfect seed for parallel construction.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  37. Re:Scalia Never Met An Unreasonable Search by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

    Putting the caller id stuff in the decision left a gaping hole for the case when a tip comes from an obviously spoofed number. And there may be a case for when prosecution cannot produce either the caller id or the recording.

  38. Natural Progression by craigminah · · Score: 1

    Of course we can have non-vetted "tips" come in to arrest people based on heresay. Can't let that pesky Constitution get in the way of the government putting it's boot on the neck of it's citizenry...

  39. Nothing to do with anonymous tips... by korthof · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Supreme court ruled the officer had reasonable suspicion that the drive was intoxicate and driving under the influence. The did not rule on the acceptance of the anonymous phone call or that it was acceptable against the 4th amendment. Only that a reasonable suspicion of driving while intoxicated can be investigated from a tipster.

    1. Re:Nothing to do with anonymous tips... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Supreme court ruled the officer had reasonable suspicion that the drive was intoxicate and driving under the influence. The did not rule on the acceptance of the anonymous phone call or that it was acceptable against the 4th amendment. Only that a reasonable suspicion of driving while intoxicated can be investigated from a tipster.

      they ruled that an anonymous 911 call by itself constitutes reasonable suspicion for a traffic stop, which is absurd.

  40. Re:Scalia Never Met An Unreasonable Search by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 1

    That's preposterous. Scalia wrote the decision in Kyllo v. United States where use of thermal imaging was declared in violation of the 4th Amendment.

    He also dissented in another 4th Amendment case, County of Riverside v. McLaughlin where the majority decision weakened protections.

    No if I was going to inflict lunch choking on someone it would be Clarence Thomas.

  41. There was no erratic driving by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It gets worse. Not only, it turns out, did the police have no good reason at first to believe that Lorenzo was driving drunk, they had very good reason at last to know that he was not. The Court concludes that the tip, plus confirma tion of the truck’s location, produced reasonable suspicion that the truck not only had been but still was barreling dangerously and drunkenly down Highway 1. Ante, at 8– 10. In fact, alas, it was not, and the officers knew it. They followed the truck for five minutes, presumably to see if it was being operated recklessly. And that was good police work. While the anonymous tip was not enough to sup port a stop for drunken driving under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U. S. 1 (1968), it was surely enough to counsel observation of the truck to see if it was driven by a drunken driver. But the pesky little detail left out of the Court’s reason- able-suspicion equation is that, for the five minutes that the truck was being followed (five minutes is a long time), Lorenzo’s driving was irreproachable. Had the officers witnessed the petitioners violate a single traffic law, they would have had cause to stop the truck, Whren v. United States, 517 U. S. 806, 810 (1996), and this case would not be before us. And not only was the driving irreproachable, but the State offers no evidence to suggest that the peti tioners even did anything suspicious, such as suddenly slowing down, pulling off to the side of the road, or turning somewhere to see whether they were being followed. Cf. Arvizu, supra, at 270–271, 277 (concluding that an officer’s suspicion of criminality was enhanced when the driver, upon seeing that he was being followed, “slowed dramati cally,” “appeared stiff,” and “seemed to be trying to pre tend” that the patrol car was not there). Consequently, the tip’s suggestion of ongoing drunken driving (if it could be deemed to suggest that) not only went uncorroborated; it was affirmatively undermined.

    A hypothetical variation on the facts of this case illus trates the point. Suppose an anonymous tipster reports that, while following near mile marker 88 a silver Ford F-150, license plate 8D949925, traveling southbound on Highway 1, she saw in the truck’s open cab several five foot-tall stacks of what was unmistakably baled cannabis. Two minutes later, a highway patrolman spots the truck exactly where the tip suggested it would be, begins follow ing it, but sees nothing in the truck’s cab. It is not enough to say that the officer’s observation merely failed to cor roborate the tipster’s accusation. It is more precise to say that the officer’s observation discredited the informant’s accusation: The crime was supposedly occurring (and would continue to occur) in plain view, but the police saw nothing. Similarly, here, the crime supposedly suggested by the tip was ongoing intoxicated driving, the hallmarks of which are many, readily identifiable, and difficult to conceal. That the officers witnessed nary a minor traffic violation nor any other “sound indici[um] of drunk driv ing,” ante, at 8, strongly suggests that the suspected crime was not occurring after all. The tip’s implication of con tinuing criminality, already weak, grew even weaker.

    1. Re:There was no erratic driving by mark-t · · Score: 1

      That the officers witnessed nary a minor traffic violation nor any other âoesound indici[um] of drunk driv ing,â ante, at 8, strongly suggests that the suspected crime was not occurring after all.I don't know if you realize this, but the police do not need any so-called substantiated reason to puill a vehicle over and ask the driver if they have been drinking... police are allowed to pull over and interrogate *ANY* driver that they choose, at any time, in the interests of pursuing impaired driver infractions, whether or not there is any basis to presume that the driver might be impaired. Police checkstops, which are most common around the holidays, are an excellent example of this. Actual allegation of impaired driving gives them even more than just cause to track a vehicle down and interrogate the driver.

      Such interrogation, however, will generally only amount to whether or not the driver has been drinking, and (sometimes) asking where they are going or coming from (to ascertain the likelihood that there may be liquor present). If the officer is satisfied no law is being broken, then the vehicle is completely free to go. If, during said interrogation, evidence of any crime does become evident, then that can legitimately warrant additional investigation.

      In no way were this persons rights infringed on when he was pulled over for alleged impaired driving.

  42. Opens the door to BS stops by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 1

    Law enforcement (being allowed to lie) already uses the "we've had noise complaints" or "there was a X crime in the area" bullshit to harass people they have a "hunch" are up to no good. I got a (WWB) Walking While Black once at college before I knew what was up. Like a naive kid I started asking the cop about what happened and gradually realized he just made up the story as an excuse to run my ID.

    Abuses are bad enough as it is. You can guarantee cops will use the anonymous tip to launch a search, then let the union and DA worry about the consequences on the rare chance a citizen gets "uppity".

    --
    I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
    1. Re:Opens the door to BS stops by gnasher719 · · Score: 1

      Law enforcement (being allowed to lie) already uses the "we've had noise complaints" or "there was a X crime in the area" bullshit to harass people they have a "hunch" are up to no good.

      "Being allowed to lie" means something different. Let's say you plan to smash in a car window. A person you don't know is watching you. The prudent person that you are, you ask them "are you a cop"? The answer is "No", you smash the car window, and the cop arrests you. That's the kind of lie a cop is allowed to make. Now let's say he turned his back on you, and you smashed the window without him seeing you, but he heard you, and there was nobody else who could have done it. Later in court the judge asks him "did you see this man smashing the car window" and he says "Yes". That's the kind of lie he isn't allowed to make.

  43. Idiot. by westlake · · Score: 2

    I'm sure if I followed an important public figure around for a while I could catch him rolling a stop sign or two.

    It's called stalking.

    If you are spotted, expect your high profile target or his warders to call for back-up.

    1. Re:Idiot. by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      The important thing when Mr. Stuffed-Shirt calls for 'back-up' is to make sure you hook the fat fucker in with you into the mess that ensues. We have a free press in this country to ensure that's possible.

    2. Re:Idiot. by idontgno · · Score: 2

      It's called surveillance.

      FTFY.

      Also commonly referred to as "sauce for the gander" and the answer to Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

      .

      --
      Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
    3. Re:Idiot. by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      WRONG. Surveilling is not stalking and NOT ILLEGAL, its inducement of fear that is what makes stalking a crime.

      --
      Good-bye
    4. Re:Idiot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't tell the paparazzi or press.

    5. Re:Idiot. by westlake · · Score: 1

      It's called surveillance.

      When - and if - the courts agree with you.

      Doesn't mean the police won't be asking questions, doing a background check.

  44. Weird decision by Huntr · · Score: 2

    Scalia w/ the liberal females in dissent and Breyer in the majority w/Thomas, Roberts, Alito and Kennedy? On *this* issue Breyer sides w/Thomas et al?

    I don't even....

    1. Re:Weird decision by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1

      It's almost as if reality is more complex than liberal vs. conservative.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank
    2. Re:Weird decision by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Scalia w/ the liberal females

      Quark, is that you?

    3. Re:Weird decision by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Breyer always votes for giving the government more power.

    4. Re:Weird decision by Vitriol+Angst · · Score: 1

      Scalia dissented from an opinion where a right to innocence is removed? That's a surprise.

      I can only assume that Thomas and Scalia take turns being "the bad guy" so it doesn't always look like a slam dunk that they'll vote with fascism each and every time.

      What would shock me is real thought and concern for citizens from the likes of Scalia and Thomas.

      --
      >>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
  45. Sing it with me now: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Land of the free
    Home of the brave

    LOL

  46. Fruit of the poisoned vine by phorm · · Score: 1

    The biggest issue I see is what apparently happens with dragnet surveillance, etc.

    You *aren't* allowed to convict somebody on illegally obtained evidence, with this following a certain amount down the chain. However, what does happen is that somebody gets "evidence" using illegal means, then calls in an anonymous tip saying "Bob has pot plants in his trunk", followed by Bob being busted.

    When Bob goes to court, the court never hears that they the police initially heard about his plants by spying through the OnStar system without a warrant, just that he was pulled over based on an "anonymous tip"

  47. Re: That wasn't the question? by thaylin · · Score: 1

    She did give her name, it was just not entered into evidence because it was not relevant.

    --
    When you cant win, ad hominem.
  48. Great idea! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What could possibly go wrong?

  49. What a WEIRD argument! by Sloppy · · Score: 2

    The bizarreness of Thomas' justification is pretty over-the-top. He's saying that an anonymous call creates probable cause because its not anonymous? The progression of that argument would be the government can authorize itself to search anything. A cop could just call 911, non-anonymously and even give his name, to create the tip that authorizes himself to search. Wouldn't that trigger the newly-created exception and make it legal?

    Maybe there's some way that 911 calls could circumvent the 4th, but a not-really-anonymous anonymous call angle? WTF.

    --
    As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
    1. Re:What a WEIRD argument! by mmell · · Score: 1
      So what do we do? Prohibit the police from acting on 911 calls from anonymous sources like pay phones or pay-as-you-go phones? What if my cellular phone routinely routes over VOIP if it can find a WiFi connection?

      "Help, I'm being chased by a man with a machete! I'm at First and Main, running for my life!"

      "Too bad. I don't see your caller ID information - let us know how that machete thing works out for you."

    2. Re:What a WEIRD argument! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Expecting Supreme Court Justices NOT to violate their oaths to uphold the Bill of Rights is foolish and naive. Very few people get selected for high offices like that without either a) being subject to blackmail, or b) being for sale.

      Any rational person that studies the US legal system will quickly see that we have huge ethics problems in law. It's a complete disaster, and it keeps getting worse.

      Just the realization that Congress is now writing multi-thousand page laws should be enough to convince the rational thinker that we have a serious problem, possibly irreversible short of revolution.

      One of the most fundamental rights that can be asserted under the 9th Amendment is the right to ethical practice of law. Even the appearance of conflict of interest must be avoided whenever possible. No ethical Supreme Court could allow the lawyers in Congress to write a law of thousands of pages in length!

      Then we have the issue of having a plethora of contradictions in the legal system (look at all the laws that violate the text "no law" or "may not be infringed" in the Bill of Rights, let alone the huge numbers of 4th Amendment violations in contradiction to the text "reasonable search"), another thing no ethical Supreme Court court allow.

      Above and beyond the issue of Bill of Rights violations, these practices violate natural human rights. No government has the right to do these things.

  50. Not valid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The courts decision on this is not valid because it's not constitutional. I do not recognize the courts decision, and neither should you.

    Every person has a right to due process of law, and has a right to know and face their accuser in a court of law. How are people going to do that if the accuser is anonymous?

    You still have a right to deny them the authority to search, unless they have a warrant issued by a bonifid judge, and that requires them to swear an oath to the judge, or present affadavit of witnesses, and it ALSO requires them to name the items to be searched and seized.

    Police will be making the "anonymous tip" claim all the time, as a way to skirt their responsibility to law. Police are already far overeaching, and use excessive force all the time. If anybody still doubts that the final 3rd branch of our government is corrupt and no longer serves the people, then this is your proof.

  51. Get the evidence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In Ontairo we have radio ads encouraging the public to report drunk drivers on the road. If found they get pulled over and get a road side test. If a charge was contested the 911 caller would have to be a witness. Same thing with a speed trap. One officer can have a radar gun and then radio to a cop down the road to pull you over. In court both officers have to be present because one saw the offense and one charged for the offense.

  52. naw but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    disposable prepaid cell anyone?

    1. Re:naw but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yep dont even need to pay for service 911 is free

  53. Arrogance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Arrogance of the Supreme Court Justices, to grant such overeaching power to police, on nothing more than their word, in an age when there has been clear proof of over reach of authority, and over use of force. It's an intollerable and unforgivable act, to effectivly deny the accused right to face his accuser in a court of law, seeing how the police will not be able to produce such witness for the stand in a court of law. To deny the accused the right to be free of unreasonable search and/or seizure. To be denied due process of law, to be entirely under the control of police, without any oversight at all.

    The halls of justice now echo with the voice of Roland Freisler.

  54. Smell? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thats is bullshit. The only "evidence" that should matter is what can be captured to use later in a court of law. If every marijuana consumer went to the police station smoking a joint and then demanded a public defender and pleaded not guilty the system would be broke in no time.

    1. Re:Smell? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If every marijuana consumer went to the police station smoking a joint and then demanded a public defender and pleaded not guilty the system would be broke in no time.

      If we're suggesting they simply cooperate on a prisoner's dilemma, then it would be much easier and safer for them to vote for pro-cannabis candidates.

  55. Re: That wasn't the question? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unless that 30# of weed was planted there by the person who placed the tip, it's not really relevant. The basis for the call was that she was run off the road by the person. Once they stopped the car they smelled the smell and found the weed.

    Regardless of whether or not the tip was real, the person did commit a crime and once the stop was made there was a real right to search it. The only question here is whether or not an anonymous tip is sufficient cause for the initial stop.

  56. What we should be pissed about. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We should be pissed that having a plant or plant material is a crime. God made them grow, all our money reads "In God We Trust". Maybe the supreme court should bring God up on manufacturing charges.

  57. Ridiculous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > The problem is that we know that this case seems likely to be one of parallel construction. There's a good chance this 'anonymous woman' worked for a three letter agency and had obtained unlawful evidence.

    It would have been much simpler to lie and claim they saw him swerve or drive recklessly to justify the stop. It's odd that people focus on the 911 call when the "I smelled MJ" part is really more open to abuse. There's no evidence that they even TRIED to find the witness, only to complain about not being told who it was.

    1. Re:Ridiculous by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      It would have been much simpler to lie and claim they saw him swerve or drive recklessly to justify the stop

      And then explain why the dashcam was shut off on the cruiser? It's a matter of record now that cops use "parallel construction" to launder illegally gained surveillance into lawful convictions.

      It's odd that people focus on the 911 call when the "I smelled MJ" part is really more open to abuse.

      It's not one or the other. It's another piece in a police state puzzle.

  58. Facism by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1

    I guess it always increases at an exponential rate.

    Seriously: what is left for the citizenry to do when it is being increasingly brutalized by the fucking Supreme Court itself??

    1. Re:Facism by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      Simple. Vote for more Democrats, give them money AND DEMAND THE IMPEACHMENT OF BIG TONY SCALIA, John Roberts and Clarence Thomas for corruption of office. All three have taken money from one litigant or the other and still refused to recuse themselves when deciding the law, ALWAYS in favor of those who have paid them!

  59. It's getting hard to do stupid stuff. by Carnivore24 · · Score: 1

    If you're gonna drive around with 30 pounds of pot AND drive aggressively you're gonna have a bad time. Might want to hold off on the aggressive driving until AFTER you deliver the drugs to the local teenagers.

  60. Good thing we have so many Conservatives by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

    always voting in more police power, yes?
    One more "protect the children" decision and it will be illegal for anyone to f@uk anyone anywhere at any time.
    My suggestion? Time to start flooding the 911 system with fake calls designed to ID off duty cops. This nonsense can only be stopped by demonstrating the reductio ad absurdem of ignorant pro-enforcement laws

  61. everything was done right but the call? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the call was legit then they should have gotten a name and if she wanted to remain anonymous that is her right. - so we will never know if this was done right or not.

    pulling over based off the call is right. even if she did not call if he got pulled over he still would have been searched, Why?
    The Smell of WEED. shocking i know but some places are still backwards and weed and other items like kinder surprise are illegal.

    So the stop was warranted, the smell of weed warranted the search for the drug.

    Now should we let anyone make anonymous calls. hell no. it should only be allowed if there is immediate threat to the caller.

    1. Re:everything was done right but the call? by EmagGeek · · Score: 1

      There is actually no right of an accuser to remain anonymous in the United States. The 6th Amendment gives the right of the accused to confront his/her/its accuser in open court. "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence." I would argue that the person who first provided "evidence" is a witness against, and must be produced by the State in open court. Of course, there is probably already SCOTUS precedent saying otherwise...

  62. The problem is this Supreme Court. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We have a problem and it is this Supreme Court. We can not allow this court to continue to make rulings like this. We need a fast constitutional amendment dismissing the members of this court or some other mechanism to throw them out. This court is politicized and corrupt to the bone. They have gravely failed the country.

    I think it's time to start the process to rewrite the constitution and through constitutional means dis-empower and retire the current government and political elite.

    1. Re:The problem is this Supreme Court. by EmagGeek · · Score: 1

      Congress can impeach Supreme Court justices just like they can impeach the President.

  63. Guessing Game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If police have to second guess on 911 call then it will destroy the whole point of 911. The fault should be point of origin, the caller.

  64. I am going to abuse the shit out of this by gelfling · · Score: 1

    rat out teachers, cops, local elected officials, church leaders.

  65. Green Light for Parallel Reconstruction by RockClimbingFool · · Score: 1

    Its no coincidence the car had 30 pounds of marijuana in it.

    The Supreme Court just condoned Parallel Reconstruction. The gist of it is that the DEA or police obtain information illegally. They then report "anonymous" tips to the police. The police then pull over the car and say "We smelled marijuana." This excuse for illegal search and seizure has already been condoned. Courts have granted police infallible senses of smell. They search the car and find the material they know is already there.

    Welcome to police state USA. If someone in power doesn't like you, you can see how it goes.

  66. Golly Gee that makes all the difference!!! by Uberbah · · Score: 1

    Jesus tapdancing Christ, this has been refuted three times now. The tip did not warrant the search, the tip only warranted pulling the driver over. The marijuana smell warranted the search

    So you're point is that he missed a step?

    1) Police officer sees car he wants to search

    2) Police officer calls 911 placing an anon tip

    2.5) Police officer claims to smell marijuana

    3) Police officer gets to do whatever the hell he wants.

    Jesus tapdancing Christ the 4th Amendment is saved!

  67. So now in the US, any vehicle can be searched at a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Joe, call 911 on this vehicle we just pulled over while I get his drivers license.

    I remember when people in the US had rights. Good times.

  68. Supreme treasonists of the united states by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please, can we start calling them what they really are? "The international banker cartel's playthings" is another acceptable term for them as well.

  69. good in this case. Slippery slope by Xicor · · Score: 1

    while it did some good this time, i can see this being totally abused in the following way: police cannot get a warrant to search someone or some place, so they ask a random bystander to call in a 911 tip anonymously... they then go in without a warrant (because they no longer need to)

  70. J.L. vs Florida? by Montezumaa · · Score: 1

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F....

    If the US Supreme Court actually expects everyone to believe the claim that precedent matter(stare decisis; though the US Supreme Court's exist precedent on quite a few issues ranges from suspect to an outright violation of individual rights.), then how does the Court reason this recent decision against decisions like J.L. v Florida? In fact, how does it rationalize tolerance of law enforcement insert itself in an individual's(or multiple individual's) private affairs, based on the claims of an anonymous source?

    I myself am an ex-law enforcement officer, which I have discussed lightly in prior topics. One of the major discussions during more than a few training sessions and private discussions was the taboo of allow law enforcement to initiate a traffic stop(or any similar "detention") based off of an anonymous call to 911. One of many points of contention discussed was a law enforcement officer which was potentially looking for a reason to initiate a detention using a "burner" cellular phone, or one that isn't attached to a service provider, getting a "be on the lookout"(BOLO; a general notification, either over a general radio frequency or posted on a computer-aided dispatch system, concerning a potential issue or possible "criminal activity") notice issued(very easy and far too often a good portion of a given day's radio chatter), and using that as the basis for initiating a stop/detention.

    I abhor this decision. Unless there is a verified witness, whom will swear to events he or she claims occurred, then a "BOLO" should, at best, continue to be a tool to alert officers to be vigilant of a potential problem or criminal activity. Though, the onus should continue to be on law enforcement to find probable cause(with more restrictions than exists today, given the far too lax and unconstitutional reasoning created by court fiat), based off of personal or verified third-party(sworn witness('s)) observations and statements, or other legitimate clues.

  71. Jesus H Christ, it's now matter of public record. by Uberbah · · Score: 1

    I'm not a fan of the 3 letter agencies, but Jesus H Christ, try to keep it at least plausible.

    Fusion centers + parallel construction = police state apologists need to find a new defense for the indefensible.

  72. Forgot to mention... by mmell · · Score: 2
    Automobiles in operation on public roads do not enjoy the same protections as a private home, vehicle on private property, etc. If the officer had found the suspect vehicle parked in a driveway, knocked on the front door and then smelled marijuana, he would have to go through the added step of justifying a search warrant.

    IANAL.

    1. Re:Forgot to mention... by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      Automobiles in operation on public roads do not enjoy the same protections as a private home, vehicle on private property, etc. If the officer had found the suspect vehicle parked in a driveway, knocked on the front door and then smelled marijuana, he would have to go through the added step of justifying a search warrant.

      I am aware of that. And IANAL either. But do you honestly think there was no reason at all for this to go all the way up to the Supreme Court?

  73. False Flag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They pulled over the car in question and smelt marijuana, which is not only a controlled substance but also impairs driving ability. THIS is what gave them cause to search the vehicle. All the tip let them do was pull the car over, which is pretty reasonable for a tip.

  74. so? In order to search someone, they need reasona by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does an anonymous phone call specifying someone doing something give reasonable suspicion that that person did that thing? Why yes it does.

  75. Easy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wear a hoodie and gloves. They'll have to go through the expense of spit-swabbing your DNA off the receiver and trying to find a match against the thousands of other samples that would be on the phone. You'll be fine. Have fun!

  76. Good point! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This needs more attention.

    Considering the level of corruption in cops today, get a politician's teenage daughter stop'n'frisked enough times and you can guarantee one of those cops is gonna finger-fuck her in the process eventually. Yeah, it would suck for her, but at least her assault would lead to change rather than if it happened to some other girl who doesn't matter nearly as much.

    You know shit gets done when people lay their hands on the daughters of angry, powerful white men. Someone oughta set up a .onion with a database full of information and photographs for this very purpose.

  77. So much for evidence collection, huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You'd think officers (or at the very least, investigators) would have to carry a small vacuum tube for collecting air samples, to prove how much scent of something (if any) is present at a scene. The tech is available and cheap, and evidence is supposed to be so important, so why are we still taking cops at their word on what they witnessed with their noses? Because it's drugs and that somehow makes it different?

    1. Re:So much for evidence collection, huh? by GoCrazy · · Score: 1

      The tech is available and cheap Maybe you should pitch it to your local police station.

      --
      No beer and no TV make Homer something something
  78. Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    She was run off the road by a maniac weilding an expensive, massive fucking weapon amonsgt weapons: a motor vehicle.

    When I put myself in this woman's shoes, I think that if that happened to me, I'd feel like I just barely escaped death. I wouldn't want to take any more chances in case that person wanted me dead for calling the cops. I don't know who's behind that wheel, who his or her friends and family are, what their own personal ideas on revenge entail, or anything! All I know is that this person damn near killed me and then sped off rather than pulling over to apologize and humble themselves like I'd expect any good person to. That driver didn't want to be known, who knows what kind of trouble I'd get into if that driver found out I'm the one responsible for him or her being known, and eventually picked up by the police?

    Look, I love weed. I'm high as fuck right now from my good ol' vapourizer, I have seven different medicinal reasons for using it plus I just really enjoy how it makes me feel. It thoroughly sucks that he got busted for possession, and in an ideal world, that wouldn't even be a crime, and the cops would ignore it as if he was bringing home milk and eggs from the grocery store. However, I think we can all agree that bad drivers have got to fucking go!

    I cannot believe people think that a report on a dangerous driver shouldn't be followed up on by the police! As much as I hate what the cops do and how corrupt they are and how they don't respect our rights and all that typical stuff you'd expect from a guy like me, THIS IS THE KIND OF FUCKING THING COPS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE FOR, DAMN IT!! Protecting citizens from other citizens that would do them harm is the fundamental, founding principle of the police force, as it was first invented by Robert Peel in England, 1829! Yes, they are going far beyond that scope in other examples, including the immediately subsequent drug possession arrest, but in the case of pulling over a dangerous driver, they are adhering to probably the most important, core principle of policing there can be.

    I wish I could convey how difficult and sick it makes me to actually admit that about cops, but holy shit, if I can open my mind, what the hell are the rest of you smoking?!

  79. How about murder via swat team by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I call 911 and talk about Mexican Mafia, Russian Mafia, Irish Mafia, Italian Mafia or whatever type of illegal gang activities and about the guns, drugs and killing going on at my neighbor's house and flash bang boom the swat team shows up kills the family lab and takes out the neighbor too. My job is done and no one is none the wiser...

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  81. What they taught me in law school... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...is that the standard for searching automobiles is significantly lower than that of searching a person or domicile. Your expectation of privacy in a vehicle on a public road is a heckuva lot different than an expectation when you're watching TV in your living room. Given case law, it's not that much of a stretch to allow a stop of an automobile based on a 911 call. The subsequent search & arrest could easily have been justified by readily observable facts visible without further search at the time of the stop. So this precedent doesn't translate into the "now they can search your house by alleging an anonymous 911 report that you're cooking meth" scenario.

    Having said that, I hate what has been done the the Fourth Amendment. Courts have so qualified its protections that, of all the first ten amendments, it's probably the one that has been gutted the most. Second Amendment, not even close. There are now so many exceptions to the "probable cause" requirement that search warrants are almost an endangered species. And don't start me on FISA or the USA Patriot Act.

    1. Re:What they taught me in law school... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your law school must have been decades ago. Your car is now considered the same as your house.

  82. love that idea! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    LOL!1!1!

  83. Doesn't make sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Five of the nine justices disagreed with him."

    Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion for the majority, but If there are 9 justices then a majority would be 5. If 5 disagreed with Clarence Thomas' opinion then wouldn't that mean that a majority voted against Clarence Thomas' position.

    This article is confusing.

    J

  84. Searches by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's been around four days, and I have no idea if this reply will get read. But hopefully it will be of use.

    Whether searching inside one's car or someone walking through your house, a warrant is going to be needed. But that's totally different from something being in plane site, if someone has "weed" sitting on one's car seat easily visible. Or if someone has a person tied up in a chair in their front yard easily visible from the street.

    Unless the 911 caller fears for his or her life, I don't see why the caller cannot be identified. You know, incase of "revenge" as others have said.