Breaking: US Supreme Court Ruling a Victory for Civil Liberties

Granted, it may be a small victory, but it’s important. And, just wait’ll you see how the justices voted.

The New York Times reports that, by a 5-4 vote, the Court has strengthened motorists’ rights to privacy.

In the decision in the case of Arizona v. Gant, the Court held that:

Officers may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle after an occupant is arrested only if it is reasonable to believe that the person arrested could still gain access to the vehicle, or if the vehicle contains evidence relevant to the arrest, the court said.

In a 5-to-4 ruling that cut across the liberal versus conservative stereotypes of the current lineup of justices, the court affirmed a ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court, which overturned the conviction and three-year prison sentence against Rodney J. Gant of Tucson on a drug charge.

On Aug. 25, 1999, Mr. Gant was arrested for driving while his license was suspended. After he was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car, officers searched Mr. Gant’s car and found cocaine in the pocket of a jacket. The trial court denied Mr. Gant’s motion to suppress the drug evidence, but the Arizona high court ruled in the defendant’s favor, reasoning that the search was not necessary for the officers’ safety or to preserve evidence.

Perhaps of more interest than the case itself is how the justices lined up. Voting for the majority were Stevens, Ginsberg, Souter and, wait for it, Thomas and Scalia. Alito, Roberts, Kennedy and, wait for it, Breyer were in the minority.

‘Bulo knows that legal barristers peruse these pages. He would love for judicial equivalents of Kremlinologists to read the jurisprudential tea leaves here. It must be more than a simple defendants’ rights case here to attract Scalia and Thomas to the majority. And does anyone else think that Thomas is starting to think of his ‘legacy’, and may be in an evolutionary process when it comes to his judicial philosophy? Let’s go lawyers (clap-clap, clap-clap-clap)!

Better hurry, or ‘bulo might be forced to print the lyrics to Jackson Browne’s less-than sympathetic depiction of legal eagles as found in “Lawyers in Love”.