Constitutional Rights

By News on the Net —— Bio and Archives August 8, 2009

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So, the court allowed a suspected drug dealer to walk free because the cop violated his constitutional rights by searching his car and finding a stack of illegal drugs in the trunk.

Constitutional Rights, like freedom of speech, must have common-sense limits. Suppose, for instance, the police search a car simply because they don't like the look of the driver, and find a dead body or a load of grenades and machine guns in the trunk. Would anyone say that the driver's constitutional Rights should allow him to just walk away? Hardly. On the other hand, the police have no right to search anyone or any car without just cause. If this sounds like a no-win for the police, it certainly is if a citizen's constitutional Rights trump common sense. the only solution is for the police to be reprimanded if their illegal search comes up empty, but if their search discovers serious incriminating evidence, that evidence should be admissible in court. William Bedford