Boating Under the Influence and Probable Cause

Here's some good news out of Iowa: it appears that incidents involving people boating under the influence of alcohol are on the decline....

Fish, the Fourth Amendment, and the Scope of Consent

It's always a pleasant surprise to see legal disputes that involve fish for nonsensical reasons, particularly fish-related disputes that...

No, It is Not Legal to Smoke Marijuana While Walking On the Sidewalk in Downtown Los Angeles

...or in any other California city or town for that matter. On November 8, California passed Proposition 64 (text of the Proposition here , ...

Forget Stop-and-Frisk: The Trump Supreme Court's True Threat to Fourth Amendment Protections

When discussing the Fourth Amendment under Trump's upcoming presidency, commentators tend to remain fixated on Trump's remarks in wh...

Trump's Bold Plan for the Fourth Amendment

Politico reports on an exciting development in Donald Trump's policy proposals. When asked how he would address "violence in the b...

New Jersey's Distracted Driving Bill and Its Disturbing Implications for Probable Cause

USA Today reports : A bill under consideration in the state Legislature calls to prohibit "any activity unrelated to the actual operat...

Fred Flintstone, World Records, and Rules With Shifting References

While the rest of the country was watching the Democratic National Convention yesterday, my attention was drawn to a far more dramatic serie...

Video and the Future of Excessive Force Law

I just learned about the shooting and death of Philando Castile by police officers during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Buzzf...

In Washington, Your Trash is Private, But Not Your Abandoned DNA

So reports the Seattle Times: Seattle’s ordinance allowing garbage collectors to look through people’s trash — to make sure food scraps are...

Aerial Surveillance, Intrusiveness, and the Fourth Amendment

Eugene Volokh has this post at the Volokh Conspiracy highlighting the recent case of State v. Davis in the New Mexico Supreme Court. In th...

California Governor Vetoes Drone Trespass Bill

So reports the LA Times : Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday vetoed legislation to restrict the use of drones over private property. The legislat...

Varriale v. State: DNA Submitted Without Express Limitation on Consent Can be Used to Investigate Other Crimes

So holds Maryland's Court of Appeals (the state's court of last resort), in Varriale v. State . The opinion can be found here . Here...

Labeling a Container as "Not Weed" is Unlikely to Eliminate Suspicion

So learned a Nebraska man who was pulled over when officers suspected he was driving under the influence. The Lincoln Journal Star initially...

Police Radars and the Fourth Amendment

Brad Heath at USA Today has this story discussing law enforcement use of radar devices that can determine whether people are present within...

Fourth Amendment Standing and Familial DNA Searches

DNA technology that identifies people based on their genetic profiles is an effective tool for solving crime. DNA can exonerate those who ar...