Last week the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion Arizona v. Gant. This case drastically changes the way police officers nationwide will be able to conduct a search when arresting an individual on a traffic violation.
Over the past 28 years when an individual has been arrested while driving a vehicle, the police have been able to lawfully search the inside of the car for officer safety reasons, even when there is no risk of the arrestee getting a weapon or destroying evidence. This rule has been known as a search incident to arrest (SIA). If someone is arrested and in a car then arresting officers could search the “grab area” of the car (the entire passenger area of the car). This SIA doctrine allowed police to make simple arrests for minor traffic violations and then search the vehicle if they had a hunch there might be drugs or other illegal evidence in a car. This has been a police officer’s favorite way to justify what really is an illegal search and for many years.
The new opinion overruled the SIA doctrine. The Court stated that “Police may search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search or it is reasonable to believe the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest.” The Court reasoned that 28 years of the old rule has ended up as an authorization to conduct unconstitutional searches. The Court also stated evidence in the passenger compartment is “rarely” within an area that the arrestee could reach.
For those of us interested in preserving our Constitutional Rights this is a landmark decision. There are ways police can get around this rule but it will make searching a car a bit more difficult when arrested for a minor violation.
