Monday, December 03, 2012

People v. Schmitz (Cal. Supreme Ct. - Dec. 3, 2012)

From now on, whenever you drive a friend to work, carpool, pick up a hitchhiker, or drive to the movies with a date, you'd better ask your passenger whether s/he's on parole.  Because if s/he is, you should know that you no longer have any expectation of privacy in the contents of most of your vehicle.  The police can search it without any suspicion of wrondoing whatsoever.  Just because of the identity of the occupant of your car.

A fairly broad reading of parole search conditions by the California Supreme Court.  In which Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye provides the dispositive fourth vote.