Posted on 01/27/2015 1:17:30 PM PST by Yellowstone Joe
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a blow to the constitutional rights of citizens, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in Heien v. State of North Carolina that police officers are permitted to violate American citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights if the violation results from a “reasonable” mistake about the law on the part of police. Acting contrary to the venerable principle that “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” the Court ruled that evidence obtained by police during a traffic stop that was not legally justified can be used to prosecute the person if police were reasonably mistaken that the person had violated the law. The Rutherford Institute had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hold law enforcement officials accountable to knowing and abiding by the rule of law. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Court’s lone dissenter, warned that the court’s ruling “means further eroding the Fourth Amendment’s protection of civil liberties in a context where that protection has already been worn down.”
“By refusing to hold police accountable to knowing and abiding by the rule of law, the Supreme Court has given government officials a green light to routinely violate the law,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of the award-winning book A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State. “This case may have started out with an improper traffic stop, but where it will end—given the turbulence of our age, with its police overreach, military training drills on American soil, domestic surveillance, SWAT team raids, asset forfeiture, wrongful convictions, and corporate corruption—is not hard to predict. This ruling is what I would call a one-way, nonrefundable ticket to the police state.”
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Can’t have the people thinking that they are in control of the government.
It’s scary to agree with the wise Latina.
One League Step.
From here on forward, ignorance of the law is only an excuse the police can use. What will stop them from always saying they thought a crime was committed.
Good point I didn’t even consider that.
8-1 is scary enough, but for her to be the one.
Wow.
Lock and load!
This article is a misrepresentation of the facts of the case and ruling.
Key to the particulars is the fact that the driver CONSENTED to a search of his vehicle. Never consent to a search, even if you think you have nothing to hide.
Indeed it is.
>>From here on forward, ignorance of the law is only an excuse the police can use.<<
Keep a printed copy of the 4th Amendment and applicable local law and shove it in the cop’s face (record the whole thing). He can’t use “ignorance of the law” if he is given it.
Yes, I find it scary that I agree with Sotomayor, who was the lone dissenter in this case!
She probably drew the short straw.
I figured as much Zero Hedge is dodgy and the wise latina is always wrong. There must be more to the story that they are leaving out.
The guy consented a vehicle search and probably signed a consent form. There’s no magic in that!
Supreme Court ruling threads on FR are a hoot. No one bothers to read the opinion before forming theirs. And to rely on some fake writer from ZeroHedge? LOL
We have to stop looking to the Supreme Court to be the arbiter of our rights. The problems mount because considered opinions, right or wrong, are never discarded. And sophistry is lauded, not eschewed. Justices think that it’s cute when they can devise strange theorems about the law which only appear to have the imprimatur of legitimacy, but in truth completely dismantle a well-ordered society.
So it’s okay if the cop is ignorant but not the suspect?
Stories from Zero Hedge must be taken with a grain of salt. ZH presents everything as either a crisis, a conspiracy, or a mixture of both.
The links are google searches.
The original article written by the Rutherford Institute is here: (U.S. Supreme Court Rules 8-1 that Citizens Have No Protection Against Fourth Amendment Violations by Police Officers Ignorant of the Law)
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