Jul. 29, 2003

Supreme Court Will Address Roadblocks to Find Witnesses

Focus Column - Criminal Law - By Alex Ricciardulli - A bedrock concept in Fourth Amendment law is that, before the police can stop a car, they must have reasonable suspicion to believe that a person in the vehicle has committed a traffic violation or engaged in some other criminal activity. Equally clear is the principle that any evidence seized following the stop of a car without sufficient suspicion cannot be used against the motorist in a criminal prosecution.