Over the past few years, the use of body-worn video cameras by police has gone from a discussion to an expectation. The new question has become whether citizens can or should record police officers. As of June 2020, CNN.com reports that Apple is building features into iPhone software to enable...
Continue reading...Civil Rights
How to Interact Safely with the Police
We live in a day and age where the media is full of tragic stories of police-citizen encounters gone wrong. As a former police officer, now lawyer, I’ve realized that society may never be able to weed out the bad cops hidden among the vast majority of good officers who...
Continue reading...Can the Police Search My Car Without a Warrant?
While the Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches by the government, police have historically been allowed fairly extensive search justification in vehicles.[1] Several exceptions have been established by the Supreme Court, creating a body of law specific to searching vehicles. These warrantless search exceptions fall into categories that include probable...
Continue reading...What Does the Constitution Say About Traffic Stops?
Seizure is a critical constitutional topic in the context of driving a car because it normally initiates the citizen-government encounter. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”[1] “The Fourth...
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