GUESS USSR OR USA? OKs Warrantless Searches Of Vehicles

USSR OR USA? New Jersey Supreme Court OKs Warrantless Searches Of Vehicles

from the more-exception,-less-rule dept

We've written before about how limited the Fourth Amendment is when applied to drivers and their vehicles. A number of court decisions -- along with continually-reinforced exceptions -- have allowed police to pull over motorists for any reason imaginable. Once they have someone pulled over, it's just a matter of obtaining consent from the driver or, failing that, coming up with a reasonable approximation of probable cause. (Drug dogs are a favorite.) After that, no warrant is needed to search the vehicle, along with the contents of any container found within it.

The "automobile exception" is the federal standard. Not every state has adopted it but a majority of them have. Until recently, New Jersey hadn't. Under its former standard, the motor vehicle exception did not exist. Police officers looking to search a vehicle without a warrant needed to make use of the "exigent circumstances" exception.

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https://www.techdirt.com/articles/2...court-oks-warrantless-searches-vehicles.shtml