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Arbitrary Traffic Stops in Tennessee

By Baker Associates

Over thirty years ago, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Delaware v. Prouse, where they tackled the issue of arbitrary traffic stops of drivers by police officers or other similar government officials. Although over three decades have passed since the decision, the ramifications of the case are still extremely pertinent today. In Prouse, the Supreme Court held that police officers cannot arbitrarily or randomly stop vehicles in order to check whether the driver is licensed and check the registration status of the vehicle. Such a stop violates the right to privacy guaranteed by the United States Constitution. The Court refused to give law enforcement unbridled discretion to pull vehicles over on a whim or a hunch. This has been extrapolated to mean that officers must have probable cause to initiate a traffic stop of a vehicle...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog on January 15, 2010 (boomark / email).