April 23, 2014
The Supreme Court just decided a case that significantly changes North Carolina law regarding whether a traffic stop can be made based on an anonymous 911 call alleging bad driving. […]
April 3, 2014
This week, the court of appeals decided State v. Price, an interesting gun rights and Fourth Amendment case. Facts. The defendant was standing in a forest, near a deer stand, […]
March 11, 2014
The court of appeals recently expanded the community caretaking exception to the warrant requirement, entering a national controversy over the proper scope of the doctrine. This post explains the exception […]
March 6, 2014
You don’t have to attend basic law enforcement training to identify a potential impaired driver. Plenty of folks without police training could roll off a list of tell-tale signs, including […]
March 3, 2014
Last week the United States Supreme Court in Fernandez v. California (February 25, 2014) clarified an issue left open in its ruling in Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103 (2006): […]
February 6, 2014
I’ve had several questions lately concerning search warrants for meth labs. The basic issue is whether officers who find hazardous chemicals and other dangerous items may destroy them right away, […]
January 30, 2014
I’ve just completed a revision of my paper on the law of traffic stops. It covers both when an officer may make a stop and what an officer may do […]
January 22, 2014
CNET is reporting that an Ohio man went to a movie theater wearing Google Glass. Halfway through Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, an FBI agent approached him, flashed a badge, took […]
January 7, 2014
The court of appeals decided a case today concerning a fact pattern that arises frequently in drug cases. State v. McKinney began when an officer received a “citizen complaint” about […]
December 12, 2013
Law enforcement officers are making more and more use of video surveillance cameras, often mounted on utility poles. Sometimes these cameras are focused on streets or parks, as discussed in […]