Right to Privacy

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday in an Illinois case that a dog sniff conducted during a legal traffic stop that uncovers the location of contraband does not violate the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. Having read the opinion, the 6-2 vote surprised me, particularly given the fact that Justice Stevens write the opinion and Justice Breyer agreed. The court focused the brunt of its argument on the fact that the stop itself was legal, the stop did not last an inordinate amount of time; one state trooper wrote the ticket while another conducted what amounted to a drug search with a trained dog. The argument seems to miss the point entirely, in my opinion, because it is wholly lacking in demonstrating the nexis between the probable cause for the drug search and the seizure of the marijuana itself. It's pretty chilling to me to think that any one of us could be subjected to the same.

Here's the opinion.

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/24jan20051130/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/03-923.pdf