I agree wholeheartedly with the Supreme Court in its Arizona v. Gant decision, in which the SCOTUS says that
Police may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only if it is reasonable to believethat the arrestee might access the vehicle at the time of the search or that the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest.
There's simply no reason for police officers to search the compartment of a car just because a citizen is under arrest.
Most interestingly, the majority consisted of Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens and David Souter. So much for the idea that the justices on right and left can't agree on anything.
Interesting side note from Lone Star Times:
Interesting. The Surpeme Court says even if one is arrested, police cannot willy-nilly search his car. Meanwhile, the Texas State Senate wants to give police the right to randomly stop and harass law-abiding motorists under the rubric of “sobriety checkpoints” and wants to make it a crime to refuse to disclose your identity to a police officer even if you are not under arrest (”papers, please”).
Maybe the Supreme Court will someday rein in the Texas Senate.
Sounds like the Texas State Senate needs to read the Supreme Court's decision.
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