Supreme Court: Passengers Have 4th Amendment Standing
The Supreme Court today decided Breslin v. California (opinion here, pdf) holding that passengers in automobiles have 4th Amendment rights to contest a search and seizure during a traffic stop. The first part of the ruling:
Held: When police make a traffic stop, a passenger in the car, like the driver, is seized for Fourth Amendment purposes and so may challenge the stop’s constitutionality. Pp. 4–13.
(a) A person is seized and thus entitled to challenge the government’s action when officers, by physical force or a show of authority, terminate or restrain the person’s freedom of movement through means intentionally applied.
Last Night in Little Rock has more at FourthAmendment.com.
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