Courts divided over cellphone search cases 
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: February 1, 2013
Tags: cellphone, Circuit Breaker, Fourth Amendment, plain view doctrine, probable cause, search and seizure, technology
The question of whether the warrantless search of a cellphone’s content violates the Fourth Amendment has divided state and federal courts, making it one of the thorniest legal issues around.
Benchmarks: Flipped-off cop couldn’t initiate traffic stop
By:
Pat Murphy
Published: January 4, 2013
Tags: Fourth Amendment, probable cause, reasonable suspicion, search and seizure, traffic stop, §1983
The 2nd Circuit yesterday revived the civil rights suit of a man who was stopped and arrested after flipping off a police officer he observed manning a speed trap.
Supreme Court puts drug dogs’ noses to the test
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: October 31, 2012
Tags: drug-sniffing dogs, Fourth Amendment, probable cause, search and seizure, U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – Oral arguments in two Fourth Amendment cases before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday focused on a common question: just what does a dog’s nose know?
Police needed probable cause to tase fleeing suspect
Published: August 31, 2012
Tags: Fourth Amendment, probable cause, search and seizure, Taser, Terry stop
Police needed probable cause in order to stop the flight of a suspected drug suspect by firing Taser darts into his back, Maryland’s highest court has ruled in reversing the denial of a motion to suppress.
Law enforcement cell phone data requests surge
Published: July 11, 2012
Tags: cell phone data, Congress, probable cause, wiretap
WASHINGTON – Last year, federal, state and local law enforcement authorities made more than 1.3 million requests for consumers’ cell phone records, according to wireless carriers’ response to a congressional inquiry.
Traffic stop for speeding violated Fourth Amendment
Published: June 28, 2012
Tags: Fourth Amendment, probable cause, search and seizure, traffic stop
A police officer did not have probable cause for a traffic stop because he relied solely on his visual estimate that the driver was traveling 75 mph in a 70-mph zone, the 4th Circuit has ruled in reversing a drug conviction.
Decision leaves retaliatory arrest issue unsettled
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: June 12, 2012
Tags: Criminal Law, First Amendment, probable cause, retaliatory arrest, Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to clearly answer the question of whether plaintiffs can bring First Amendment-based retaliatory arrest claims despite the existence of probable cause.
The continued uncertainty has disappointed legal experts and advocates on both sides of the issue.
City must have probable cause to inspect home
Published: February 8, 2012
Tags: Fourth Amendment, probable cause, real property, search and seizure, zoning
A city was required to satisfy the traditional probable cause standard in order to obtain a court order for the inspection of a home for zoning violations, the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled in reversing judgment.
$150K settlement reached in false arrest lawsuit
Published: April 18, 2011
Tags: California, civil rights, Excessive Force, false arrest, probable cause, warrantless entry
A former San Carlos, Calif. resident has settled for $150,000 after suing two police officers who broke into his home with guns drawn after a minor car crash in 2003, his attorney said.
Agreement reached in search lawsuit
By:
Associated Press
Published: March 4, 2011
Tags: North Dakota, probable cause, strip search
The federal government has agreed to pay $61,666 to settle claims by three women that they were subjected to an illegal strip search in a Bureau of Indian Affairs jail.
