Say Anything Blog

Court rulings are mixed on such things.  But clearly having a dog trained to search for drugs by sniffing sniff one’s car is a search.

By your logic, parabolic microphones to listen in on conversations you’re having inside your home wouldn’t be a search, either.

I’m not sure its so clear.

Your example of a parabolic microphone isn’t exactly right for this situation.  If the conversation taking place inside the house were loud enough for a passing police officer to hear would that be an invasion of privacy?

I apply that logic to this situation.  If the odor of drugs is strong enough for a search dog to smell from outside the vehicle it isn’t an invasion of privacy, at least in my opinion.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

"Gillette next asked defendant if he had ever been arrested, and defendant responded that he had not. The dispatcher subsequently reported that defendant had two prior arrests for distribution of marijuana, and Gillette began to write the warning ticket. He was interrupted by another officer calling him over the radio on an unrelated matter. Gillette testified he was still writing the warning ticket when Trooper Graham arrived with his drug-detection dog and began walking around defendant’s car. The dog alerted at defendant’s trunk in less than a minute. After Graham advised him of the alert, Gillette searched defendant’s trunk and found marijuana.

Defendant was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay a street value fine of $256,136.”

from
http://www.state.il.us/court/Opinions/SupremeCourt/2003/November/Opinions/Html/91547.htm

Sounds like the guy had a lot of pot.  And two priors over the radio. And a good dog nearby. Case Closed. 

Save some of the Constitution for the innocent, why don’t ya!

You make a good point Marty.

Honestly, I don’t think that trotting a drug sniffing dog around the outside of a vehicle constitutes a “search.” Now if said police officers were to start opening doors to the vehicle that would be a different story.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

Was there probable cause? What looked suspicious about the car or its driver? If everyone who had a past conviction became suspect, then a person who had paid their ‘price’ for making a mistake could be paying that price over and over again. Yes, this individual happened to be carrying drugs and was caught. What if an over zealous officer does a traffic stop and, in his enthusiasm to make an arrest, plants a small amount of drugs after finding out that the driver has a past conviction? No warrant is needed and the driver is trapped. Where is the protection?

Does an officer need probable cause to sniff the air around our vehicle?  If an officer had smelled the marijuana instead of a dog would we be having this argument?

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs: