Legal Commentary

I'm teaching Terry stops and reasonable suspicion this week, and came across this on the ACLU of Northern CA website. 

Nearly four years [after a lawsuit was filed against the CHP for a non-consent search with no PC - HA] a settlement was finally reached, and CHP committed to making wide spread reforms.  Among these included no longer allowing CHP to use traffic violations as an excuse for stopping and searching a car for illegal drugs unless the officers have probable cause or reasonable suspicion of drug activity.  CHP has also declared a moratorium on consent searches until 2006.

I can see why the "no consent searches" agreement would be big news, though I have my doubts about how it can be enforced or monitored. I have to wonder, though: does anyone at the ACLU think that requiring reasonable suspicion for stops is going to significantly reduce racial profiling, which is what the ACLU was concerned about?

With this, I bid you all farewell; this was fun, and thank you, Dan, for making this such a cozy living room to have a good conversation in.