Sotomayor nods to Black Lives Matter in biting dissent of illegal search ruling
Evidence police obtain through wrong or illegal search and seizures can be used against defendants in some cases, a majority of the US Supreme Court ruled Monday, in a controversial decision that critics say infringes on civil liberties.
In a 5-3 decision, the court found a Utah police officer鈥檚 unlawful stop and search of Joseph Edward Strieff in Salt Lake City shouldn鈥檛 negate the warrant the officer, detective Doug Fackrell, discovered for Mr. Strieff鈥檚 arrest and the methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia he found on Strieff.
In the majority opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said Mr. Fackrell鈥檚 discovery of the warrant 鈥渁ttenuated the connection between the unlawful stop and the evidence seized incident to arrest.鈥�
鈥淲hile Officer Fackrell鈥檚 decision to initiate the stop was mistaken, his conduct thereafter was lawful,鈥� wrote Justice Thomas.
In Justice Sonia Sotomayor鈥檚 dissent, she condemned Thomas鈥檚 majority opinion and the police conduct it allows, which she wrote turns America into a because the citizens of this democracy will be subject to searches at any time. As the nation contends with questions the Black Lives Matter movement has surfaced, Sotomayor鈥檚 dissent shows the subject of police misconduct, especially in profiling citizens, has reached at least some of the high court.
鈥淏y legitimizing the conduct that produces this double consciousness, this case tells everyone, white and black, guilty and innocent, that an officer can verify your legal status at any time,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淚t says that your body is subject to invasion while courts excuse the violation of your rights. It implies that you are not a citizen of a democracy but the subject of a carceral state, just waiting to be cataloged.鈥�
鈥淭he court today holds that the discovery of a warrant for an unpaid parking ticket will forgive a police officer鈥檚 violation of your Fourth Amendment rights,鈥� continued Sotomayor. 鈥淒o not be soothed by the opinion鈥檚 technical language: This case allows the police to stop you on the street, demand your identification, and check it for outstanding traffic warrants 鈥� even if you are doing nothing wrong.鈥�
In the case, Utah vs. Strieff, an anonymous tip of in a home led police to surveillance it, according to The New York Times. After Strieff left the house, Officer Fackrell stopped his vehicle 鈥渂ased on what the state later conceded were insufficient grounds, making the stop unlawful.鈥� However, Fackrell found a warrant for Strieff for a minor traffic violation. He arrested Strieff, searched him and found methamphetamines and drug paraphernalia on him. 听
The Utah Supreme Court found the drugs could not be used to incriminate Strieff given the unlawful stop.
Strieff is white. Sotomayor's dissent, however, focused particularly on "suspicionless stops" against people of color, invoking听James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time," W.E.B. Du Bois's "The Souls of Black Folks," and Ta-Nehisi Coate's "Between the World and Me," as Vox reported.
Sotomayor wrote that 鈥渟uspicionless stops鈥� are significant because 鈥渙utstanding warrants are increasingly common.鈥� A Justice Department report from 2015 found that 16,000 of Ferguson, Mo.鈥檚 21,000 residents had outstanding warrants, many of which were for unpaid traffic fines.
As Black Lives Matter has called police miconduct into question, Justin Driver, a law professor at the University of Chicago, told The New York Times Sotomayor鈥檚 dissent was 鈥渢he strongest indication we have yet that the Black Lives Matter movement has made a difference at the Supreme Court 鈥� at least with one justice.鈥�
Others, however, previously worried that Black Lives Matter鈥檚 criticism of the criminal justice system 鈥� of 鈥� goes too far, as The Economist wrote in August, suggesting that the current president has addressed the problem with more nuance.听
鈥淯nfortunately, America鈥檚 criminal-justice problems are deep and systemic, and there is indeed troubling evidence of racism. But it is inaccurate to present these problems as the result of an organised conspiracy by all white people to hold down听blacks,鈥� wrote the publication. 鈥淭hat is something that Barack Obama, whose speeches on race this year have been thoughtful and brilliantly articulated, appears to understand. Those who wish to succeed him ought to bear this in mind.鈥�
This report contains material from the Associated Press.听
[Editor's note:听An earlier version of this story used an incorrect abbreviation for Missouri.]
