'Coercive Ambiguity' in the Routine Traffic Stop Turned Consent Search
34 Pages Posted: 10 Dec 2014 Last revised: 11 Dec 2014
Date Written: 1997
Abstract
Certain types of routine traffic stops that then turn into searches of a car raise privacy concerns at three possible levels under federal and state constitutional prohibitions against unreasonable or warrantless searches and seizures. In some cases, these stops amount to a temporary "seizure" of the car and its occupants. Additionally, many seizures of cars and detention of occupants go well beyond what is needed to investigate the traffic stop at hand. Finally, the search of the car itself invades the privacy of the occupants.
This article considers these levels of privacy concerns, focusing on the constitutionality of the police conduct going beyond that which is necessary to fulfill the function of the stop for speeding or another infraction. Section I examines the constitutional issues implicated by the search and seizure violation and focuses on the ever-declining Fourth Amendment protections for motorists on public roadways under United States Supreme Court interpretation. Section II analyzes current Supreme Court precedent. Section III describes the need for a remedy, both generally and under applicable state law. Section IV describes some remedies fashioned by various courts for similar situations. Finally, the author proposes a specific remedy drawn from the case law considered in Section IV.
Keywords: traffic stops, search and seizure, privacy, Fourth Amendment
JEL Classification: K10, K14, K42
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation