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POSTED: 3:55 pm CST March 26, 2004
UPDATED: 4:36 pm CST March 26, 2004
NEW ORLEANS -- It's a groundbreaking court decision that legal experts say will affect everyone: Police officers in Louisiana no longer need a search or arrest warrant to conduct a brief search of your home or business.
Leaders in law enforcement say it will provide safety to officers, but others argue it's a privilege that could be abused.
The decision was made by the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Two dissenting judges called it the "road to Hell."
The ruiling stems from a lawsuit filed in Denham Springs in 2000.
New Orleans Police Department spokesman Capt. Marlon Defillo said the new power will go into effect immediately and won't be abused.
"We have to have a legitimate problem to be there in the first place, and if we don't, we can't conduct the search," Defillo said.
But former U.S. Attorney Julian Murray has big problems with the ruling.
"I think it goes way too far," Murray said, noting that the searches can be performed if an officer fears for his safety -- a subjective condition.
Defillo said he doesn't envision any problems in New Orleans, but if there are, they will be handled.
"There are checks and balances to make sure the criminal justce system works in an effective manor," Defillo said
__________________
For immediate release March 26, 2004
NEW ORLEANS -- The ACLU of Louisiana condemns the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ evisceration of the Fourth Amendment announced in the recent decision U.S. v. Gould. The decision allows authorities in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi to conduct warrantless searches of private property without suspicion of any crime and only a perceived threat to their own safety.
Joe Cook, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana, said, “This decision is the latest roll-back of safeguards that protect the people from being at the mercy of a police state. It is particularly egregious that the police acknowledged that they lacked authority to search a master bedroom and closet. The Fifth Circuit has effectively carved out a deep exception to the constitutional warrant requirement rationalizing police misconduct after the fact. Allowing law enforcement to search homes without probable cause or any warrant makes a dramatic and dangerous departure from one of our most fundamental American freedoms.”
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution “guarantees the rights of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures.” The Fourth Amendment is the bedrock for our right to privacy – what Supreme Court Justice Brandeis famously called the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.
The ACLU of LA agrees with the dissenting opinion’s concern that, “the gambit of getting permission to enter a citizen’s home in order to talk to someone and then conducting a protective sweep search under the guise of sensing danger to the investigating officer will effectively eliminate the need for complying with the Fourth Amendment and at that point we will all be, literally and figuratively, on the road to hell.”
The government’s increasingly aggressive demand for new and unnecessary powers capitalizes on public fears and squelches attempts to consider sound public policy that does not compromise civil liberties. U.S. v. Gould weakens the legal chains that are designed to restrain government from trampling on basic civil liberties. Increased surveillance power, government spying, and database are significant rollbacks on our right to privacy. Once these rights are lost, they will be very difficult to retrieve. Weakening the Constitution will not strengthen America. The ACLU insists that we can, and must, remain both safe and free.
Glad I don't live there..... Cjay
UPDATED: 4:36 pm CST March 26, 2004
NEW ORLEANS -- It's a groundbreaking court decision that legal experts say will affect everyone: Police officers in Louisiana no longer need a search or arrest warrant to conduct a brief search of your home or business.
Leaders in law enforcement say it will provide safety to officers, but others argue it's a privilege that could be abused.
The decision was made by the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Two dissenting judges called it the "road to Hell."
The ruiling stems from a lawsuit filed in Denham Springs in 2000.
New Orleans Police Department spokesman Capt. Marlon Defillo said the new power will go into effect immediately and won't be abused.
"We have to have a legitimate problem to be there in the first place, and if we don't, we can't conduct the search," Defillo said.
But former U.S. Attorney Julian Murray has big problems with the ruling.
"I think it goes way too far," Murray said, noting that the searches can be performed if an officer fears for his safety -- a subjective condition.
Defillo said he doesn't envision any problems in New Orleans, but if there are, they will be handled.
"There are checks and balances to make sure the criminal justce system works in an effective manor," Defillo said
__________________
For immediate release March 26, 2004
NEW ORLEANS -- The ACLU of Louisiana condemns the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ evisceration of the Fourth Amendment announced in the recent decision U.S. v. Gould. The decision allows authorities in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi to conduct warrantless searches of private property without suspicion of any crime and only a perceived threat to their own safety.
Joe Cook, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana, said, “This decision is the latest roll-back of safeguards that protect the people from being at the mercy of a police state. It is particularly egregious that the police acknowledged that they lacked authority to search a master bedroom and closet. The Fifth Circuit has effectively carved out a deep exception to the constitutional warrant requirement rationalizing police misconduct after the fact. Allowing law enforcement to search homes without probable cause or any warrant makes a dramatic and dangerous departure from one of our most fundamental American freedoms.”
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution “guarantees the rights of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures.” The Fourth Amendment is the bedrock for our right to privacy – what Supreme Court Justice Brandeis famously called the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.
The ACLU of LA agrees with the dissenting opinion’s concern that, “the gambit of getting permission to enter a citizen’s home in order to talk to someone and then conducting a protective sweep search under the guise of sensing danger to the investigating officer will effectively eliminate the need for complying with the Fourth Amendment and at that point we will all be, literally and figuratively, on the road to hell.”
The government’s increasingly aggressive demand for new and unnecessary powers capitalizes on public fears and squelches attempts to consider sound public policy that does not compromise civil liberties. U.S. v. Gould weakens the legal chains that are designed to restrain government from trampling on basic civil liberties. Increased surveillance power, government spying, and database are significant rollbacks on our right to privacy. Once these rights are lost, they will be very difficult to retrieve. Weakening the Constitution will not strengthen America. The ACLU insists that we can, and must, remain both safe and free.
Glad I don't live there..... Cjay
