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D. Neb.: Suspicionless vehicle searches of prison employees cars was reasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Suspicionless searches of corrections employees' cars on the parking lot was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Some inmates have access to the parking lot in the normal course of the day, and the employees have a reduced expectation of privacy in their cars on a prison parking lot. True v. Nebraska, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17691 (D. Neb. March 4, 2009): The Eighth Circuit Court has considered this lowered expectation of privacy and has concluded that "it is not unreasonable to search vehicles that are parked within [a correctional] institution's confines where they are accessible to inmates." Id. In this case, both parties confirm that DCS "community custody inmates" have access to the parking lot that DCS periodically searches. True Aff...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 11, 2009 (boomark / email).