Comment by ddalex
2 years ago
Not sure why down voted. Even the quoted article states:
> Border Patrol, nevertheless, cannot pull anyone over without “reasonable suspicion” of an immigration violation or crime (reasonable suspicion is more than just a “hunch”). Similarly, Border Patrol cannot search vehicles in the 100-mile zone without a warrant or “probable cause” (a reasonable belief, based on the circumstances, that an immigration violation or crime has likely occurred).
In practice, "reasonable suspicion" means "whenever they want."
If you're taking this view, any armed forces can do whatever they want and the constitution is just a piece of paper.
In practice, the evidence gathered by unlawful searches is going to be discarded in a court of law. Other wise said, there is no carving in penal law for "100 miles " from the border.
> If you're taking this view, any armed forces can do whatever they want and the constitution is just a piece of paper
I don't understand how you reach this conclusion.
> In practice, the evidence gathered by unlawful searches is going to be discarded in a court of law
Yes, of course. What I'm talking about is the threshold for when evidence is considered "unlawful".
The "reasonable suspicion" threshold is intentionally an extremely low bar. Low enough that it's barely a meaningful threshold. In practice, it's incredible easy for any officer to make up some articulable suspicion for pretty much anything.
> evidence gathered by unlawful searches is going to be discarded in a court of law
Maybe. Probably? But this isn't always the critical question.
Sometimes, "You May Beat the Rap, But You Can't Beat The Ride" is the problem.
The potential to abuse power is not a reason to disavow it.
Yes, yes it is.