Supremes Consider the Limits of Warantless Searches

It's October, which means that the nine members of the U.S. Supreme Court have dusted off their robes and are heading back to the court room for a few months of work.

First up on the docket today, Oct. 6 – the opening day of their October 2008 term – was a drug case, but regarding the legal kind, that is: cigarettes. (The question there, in case you're curious, is whether state-law challenges to descriptions of "light" cigarettes – that they contain less tar and, thus, are perhaps less damaging, for example – that were authorized by the Federal Trade Commission are thus pre-empted by federal law. Sounds technical, sure, and perhaps boring, but the outcome could effect the ability of states to enforce their deceptive trade practices laws.)

But just this first day will pass before the Supremes get down to considering the drug war, with two cases that will ask them to weigh in on the Fourth Amendment and limits of police search powers.

In the first case, Arizona v. Gant, the court will have to decide whether a warrantless search of a car, made after the occupant was arrested and in handcuffs, violates the constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure. In the second case, Herring v. U.S., the court will have to decide if it is a violation of a defendant's Fourth Amendment rights to use evidence obtained by one police agency during a search that was based on erroneous information provided by another law enforcement agency.

Stay tuned to Reefer Madness for more on these two cases.