A 4-2 split decision from a state Supreme Court has given the green light to officers to search a car based simply on probable cause. Previously, Pennsylvania police officers typically needed to obtain a warrant to conduct a vehicle search unless the driver consented, according to The Patriot-News newspaper.
Writing for themajority, Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice Seamus P. McCaffery noted that, “there is a diminished expectation of privacy in motor vehicles”, and pointed out that federal law already permits warrantless searches of vehicles if officers have probable cause. That law dates back to the Prohibition Era of the 1920s, when federal agents chased bootleggers trafficking alcohol across state lines.
In 2014, the modern parallel is a marijuana trafficking route from Florida to New York, which passes through Pennsylvania. The case that brought the issue to court involved a 2010 traffic stop in Philadelphia. Officers reportedly pulled over the vehicle and smelled marijuana. That resulted in a probable-cause search, during which police discovered two pounds of marijuana.
At the same time, a bill is being advanced in the state legislature that seeks to target drug traffickers. The proposal would outlaw cars with “secret compartments” that could be used to conceal contraband. The secret compartment bill was unanimously approved in the House Judiciary Committee and sent to the full House for consideration. It is unclear when a floor vote will occur.
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The legislation would make having these compartments a first-degree misdemeanor, yielding up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, if police can prove that it exists with criminal intent. Additionally, the vehicle would be seized by police.
As Pennsylvania’s Times Herald newspaper notes, a similar secret compartments law went into effect last year in neighboring Ohio. In November, a local man was stopped, and police claimed to smell marijuana in the car. They searched the vehicle under probable cause without finding any marijuana. They did, however, arrest the suspect after finding one of the compartments, which was empty.
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Story: http://fusion.net/justice/story/pennsylvania-cops-longer-warrants-search-cars-711451