Tag: Justice Alito
Posted on Wed Jan 21, 2009 at 03:00:00 PM EST
Tags: Justice Alito (all tags)
Another decision causing one to rue the day Justice Sam Alito made it to the Supreme Court: Pearson et. al. v. Callahan (pdf).
Although the opinion was unanimous, it is authored by Justice Alito, who in his fervor to protect police officers from liability when they violate someone's fourth amendment rights, throws precedent out the window, saying it's okay to ignore it. At least, that's my take.
Even worse, the case was from my own circuit which has held that "consent once removed" doesn't apply to snitches, only to undercover officers. Alito says because at the time of the search, two states and three other federal districts had ruled differently, the cops were entitled to rely on those rulings since their own circuit hadn't yet ruled at the time. And, he writes, the legal test established by the Supreme Court for determining whether immunity applies isn't mandatory for courts to follow. [More..]
(5 comments, 622 words in story) There's More :: Permalink :: Comments
