Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Sam Schwall 1st- Supreme Court Gives Police New Power To Rely On Anonymous Tips


            I read the article, Supreme Court Gives Police New Power To Rely On Anonymous Tips, by Nina Totenberg for NPR. This story discusses a case where an anonymous caller dialed 911, reporting a truck that ran her off the road. After describing the truck, the police pulled someone over that matched the description and found 30 pounds of marijuana. This arrest was challenged as unconstitutional. In the end there was a 5-4 decision that police can stop and search based on anonymous reports. With enough detail I suppose this isn’t a bad thing but this does seem to be taking freedom away and allowing false calls to be made. With a reason beyond simply a call I believe that this is ok, but for the innocent citizen, one anonymous call shouldn’t determine police action. What do you think?

3 comments:

  1. http://www.npr.org/2014/04/22/305993180/court-gives-police-new-power-to-rely-on-anonymous-tips

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  2. I think it would depend on the content of the call. If police feel that someone's life is in danger, then fast action would be very important. But there is also the possibility of the caller's identity being revealed, and as a result them becoming the target of whoever was sent to jail because of them.

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  3. I agree with you, Sam. I think that it's good that the police are listening to individuals and addressing their concerns but I think there should be a better system of determining how to handle these situations rather than just searching any accused person.

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