Tennessee Criminal Attorney Blog

This week marks the ninth annual Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee. It seems each year this festival keeps getting bigger and draws thousands of fans to the otherwise sleepy town of Manchester in Coffee County, Tennessee. The lineup this year includes acts such as Dave Matthews, Jay Z, Stevie Wonder, Kings of Leon, and many, many others. We certainly hope everyone who is planning on attending the show has a great time and is both safe and hassle free. Please note, law enforcement officers throughout the State of Tennessee will be out in full force as you make your way to the show in Manchester this weekend.

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2010!!" »

Posted by Jonathan A. Street | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Drugs , Illegal Search , Marijuana , Property Seizure

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In 2005, the United States Supreme Court held in the case of Illinois v. Caballes that when a trained drug dog sniffs a persons automobile, there is no search. As a result, no constitutional violation occurs. This is the case even if the police have absolutely no reason to suspect you may be carrying illegal contraband whatsoever.

The majority reasoned that a dog’s sniffing is not really a “search” because it detects only contraband, and therefore does not compromise the privacy of someone who has nothing to hide. Justices David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg both dissented strongly, warning that this decision could lead to “suspicionless and indiscriminate sweeps of cars in parking garages and pedestrians on sidewalks.”

The decision was not shocking, it was merely an extension of an earlier case decided by the Supreme Court in 1982 which held that the use of drug sniffing dogs to search luggage in an airport was in fact not a search either. (United States v. Place).

Continue reading "Drug Sniffing Dogs- Are they constitutional? Are they reliable?" »

Posted by Jonathan A. Street | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Drugs , Illegal Search , Marijuana

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