Quote:
Originally Posted by MyCarIsFTL
OK, so, class tonight in criminal procedure/law we lightly touched on the fourth amendment.
For those who don't know, in the simplest terms, it's an amendment in the Bill of Rights that has to do with protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
Well, there was a kid who was really hell bent on raising questions about "why can police do this?" and basically ranting about crooked cops/judges, search warrants, probable cause, etc.
My take, is that you're only super concerned about the fourth amendment if you have something to hide. Of course no one wants their stuff rooted through for no reason, but I mean.. his example was getting pulled over and in the process of getting pulled over, the cop smells marijuana and searches your car. He then proceeded to rant that the cop would have no right to do so, etc. and that he'd mad because the cop "wasted" his time. Then continued to rant about judges not "seeing" the evidence or suspected evidence first hand, and that only going on a cop's word before signing for a warrant wasn't enough, along with other miscellaneous crap.
Then his last rant was that he was walking home once from a bar and said that a crime had been committed and that the cops questioned him and inconvenienced him, though he was not the one to do it.
What's your take on the fourth amendment? Would you really be that mad if someone pulled you over, thought they smelled weed and then searched your car? I mean, if you don't have anything in your car, then why is it a big deal if he just looks around your car real quick? I could understand being mad if he tore your seats apart and ripped out the dash but I guess I couldn't understand why this kid was so feverishly trying to talk about cops like they were evil.
Where do you personally draw the line for levels of expectation of privacy?
Or maybe this is a dumb thread and I need to shut up.. but it's been making me think all night.
|
The part in bold was a way to bring about the Patriot Act. I still don't want people searching through my conversations and wire tapping me, even if I do not have anything to hide.
And to address the question directly, if a cop were to "smell marijuana" lets remember lots of cops and people in general think they smell or see something... when in fact they did not. Also, lots of cops like to do things, just because they can. This is the same reason I keep getting pulled over for tinted windows, even after I show them my waiver, and the same cop keeps doing it. Lets not be naive and believe that all cops are just and honorable, there is a reason for the 4th amendment.