Say Goodbye to the Fourth Amendment? - Part II

Years ago we were stopped in a small town for doing six miles over the speed limit. Since we had been going down an incline, but the town was rumored to be a speed trap, we were unsure what to expect. No, we weren't given a ticket, but after we told the story to our attorney friend we added that we would have been happy to have had the officer look inside the vehicle.

Our friend was aghast. No! Never volunteer that. If they ask, say no! As he pointed out, while we may have absolutely nothing to hide, we have no idea what the officer might decide to plant in the car. Do many officers do that? We hope not.

We were reminded of that while watching a murder mystery a few weeks ago. The older detective told the younger that it was their job to suspect everyone was guilty and to try to prove it. It was the suspects' "job" to prove that they were innocent. Sad, but probably true.

Now a word about attorneys. If you have legal problems, please don't try to represent yourself based on what you've seen on television or what you've gleaned from the Internet. We recently asked how our readers "felt" about the Fourth Amendment and "unreasonable" searches. As one friend pointed out, it's what the law says about it that counts. 

Quite true, but who interprets the current state of the law in an appeal? You may be surprised at just how little freedom those ultra-conservative judges think you deserve.