The 9th Circuit compared the searches to the “abuses of power” that “led to adoption of the Fourth Amendment in the first place.”
Read MoreThe Michigan Court of Appeals denied a request Thursday to reconsider its earlier opinion stating that a former Grand Rapids police officer should stand trial for murder in the 2022 killing of a Black motorist.
Read MoreHis attorney argued in Circuit Court that the evidence shouldn’t be used because police didn’t have probable cause to pull over the motorist.
Because it isn’t illegal to look at Snapchat while driving, Mountain’s attorney argued he hadn’t been violating the law and a Circuit Court judge agreed, tossing the case. However, the court of appeals disagreed.
"Although studying Snapchat is different than texting," the trooper's "common sense conclusion" was that Mountain was "violating a traffic law, thereby establishing adequate grounds for a traffic stop," the ruling said.
Read MoreOne of the most buttoned-up institutions in the country will wrestle with the free-for-all culture of the house party as the Supreme Court hears a case set for Wednesday that began in a brick duplex in the District.
The weighty legal matters involve policing, arrests and searches in private homes.
But those issues are packaged in a case that includes a mystery hostess named Peaches, women in garter belts stuffed with cash and party guests who weren’t certain who owned the house they were in, but told police that “Peaches” was a renter who had invited at least some of them.
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