Justice
What Are the Bounds of a Traffic Stop, According to the Supreme Court?
The nation's highest court has ruled that police officers can't draw out a stop for the sole reason of waiting for drug sniffing dogs.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that police officers cannot prolong traffic stops in order to release the hounds—the drug-sniffing hounds, that is.
In a 6-3 decision, the court found that Nebraska police officers had violated the Fourth Amendment by extending a 2012 traffic stop by less than 10 minutes to allow a drug-sniffing dog to circle a vehicle. The driver, Dennys Rodriguez, had been pulled over for driving on a highway shoulder, and though the investigating officer had a drug-sniffing dog already in his police car, he waited for backup before initiating a drug search. The search revealed that Rodriguez was also in possession of a large quantity of methamphetamine.