Court Opens Door To Searches Without Warrants POSTED: 3:55 pm CST March 26, 2004 UPDATED: 4:36 pm CST March 26, 2004 NEW ORLEANS -- It's a groundbreaking court decision that legal experts say will affect everyone: Police officers in Louisiana no longer need a search or arrest warrant to conduct a brief search of your home or business. Leaders in law enforcement say it will provide safety to officers, but others argue it's a privilege that could be abused. The decision was made by the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Two dissenting judges called it the "road to Hell." The ruiling stems from a lawsuit filed in Denham Springs in 2000. New Orleans Police Department spokesman Capt. Marlon Defillo said the new power will go into effect immediately and won't be abused. "We have to have a legitimate problem to be there in the first place, and if we don't, we can't conduct the search," Defillo said. But former U.S. Attorney Julian Murray has big problems with the ruling. "I think it goes way too far," Murray said, noting that the searches can be performed if an officer fears for his safety -- a subjective condition. Defillo said he doesn't envision any problems in New Orleans, but if there are, they will be handled. "There are checks and balances to make sure the criminal justce system works in an effective manor," Defillo said.
Geez, as long as it's "brief" what's to complain, eh? And since I was in law enforcement for a few years it's soooooo terribly hard for me to imagine something like this being abused (he says, tongue firmly planted in cheek). Ahhh, the John Ashcroft world is coming to fruition.
NEW ORLEANS -- It's a groundbreaking court decision that legal experts say will affect everyone: Police officers in Louisiana no longer need a search or arrest warrant to conduct a brief search of your home or business. As with the live aboard boating community, they will soon make our police "safety inspectors" and give them authority to enter and inspect your home in the name of safety. Live aboard's have been putting up with this for a long time already. Makes me sad, how the country has changed, due to lies.
Looks like a rare issue where ART & I are in complete agreement. (Assuming he's against arbitrary searches. Perhaps I'm assuming too much?) It's frustrating to constantly hear the saying that our soldiers 'fought and died for our freedom'...while the biggest threat to our freedom is not foreign nations at all, but our own shitty rulers! "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." ~George W. Bush
Absent exigent circumstances I can't imagine the Supreme Court will allow warrantless home searches, no matter how brief. Of course, I couldn't imagine a lot of other stuff they allowed this term either. I'm not familiar with this decision and would be interested in the actual facts. These warrantless search cases often involve special circumstances.
This definitely makes me feel much safer at night. Thank god for people like Ashcroft and other extremely bent right-winged whacks who love to chisel and erode whatever personal rights we once had.